I Hate Labels But I LOVE Me Some Lace!

I really do hate labels or labeling people or things but I must label myself.  I have had a "recent" obsession with things that are opposite.  Meaning I am one of "those girls" that likes to put a little good in with the bad....like a little bad boy in my wonderfully awesome hubby....like a little yin with my yang.....like a little sun peaking through on a rainy day.  I have to admit that I don't mind a little bad news mixed with my good news.  I know odd eh?!  LOL  I only say "recent" with the quotation marks because you know that this is something that just does not happen over night, it is something you are born with.  Cue the Lady GaGa music......

I definitely don't take myself as a girly girl at all.  The only day in the past 6 years that I have worn a dress was on my wedding day (and it was black and white polka dots....go figure!).  I have bought one skirt during this time and it still hangs in my closet with the price tags on it.  Wait, I did buy another skirt but it was for the fabric so I took it apart.  But I have this obsession with flowery fabrics and lacy, girly materials.  If I see something that even resembles shabby chic, I have to have it.  When my friend Dawn and I go fabric shopping (often), she knows what "Lisa prints" are and I know what "Dawn prints" are.  She is a very mod type of girl and I can pick out a color or print that I know she will just die for.  See, another yin and yang (love ya Dawn!).  

So that brings me to my point, I have this project that I saw out on Pinterest that I really want to make and can't get out of my mind.  It was a bag made of canvas with a beautiful lace border.  Now that I have my embroidery machine, I have the ability to find that perfect lace, make it myself and add it to that bag....YEAH ME!  So check out my pic below...I am making the lace now!!!

Thanks to Mike over at Sew for Less and his Aqua Lace stabilizer, this is an extremely simple job because this stuff will just dissolve to nothingness when I put it into water.  I love it!  Now for the record, I am not being paid to advertise for Sew for Less or endorse their products, I am just excited about this whole new world and the fun tools that have been opened up to me through embroidery.  Sew for Less is a local store and I support local shopping! :)  Here's to hoping I have a finished bag soon.  Dawn....I may need your help on that bag! LOL

Until next time,
Mamalou

Stoked and FRUSTRATED

Yes, that was a frustrated all in caps.  Can you imagine.....me yelling?  NEVER!!!  lol  Just kidding.  All joking aside, I made the sale of a lifetime last night.  First let me start with, I made the best chili I have ever made yesterday and our annual tradition of our friends, the Miller's coming over for the first big pot of the new year went off without a hitch.  Jen and I decided to take a little road trip over to Hancock's and see if we could look at some embroidery machines.....cheap, easy to use, did I mention cheap?  Yeah well that was the plan but we got there and then lady at the Bernina counter was well, shall we just say, she was new, very, very new and suggested we come back tomorrow.  She even went a little further and told us to come after 2pm because the morning girl was "new" also....ok then!  On our way out the door, I had a sudden thought (aka "brain fart") that we should just go and take a gander at the machines being sold by Hancock and not just Bernina.  Well low and behold there was a machine and it was actually a Bernette by Bernina.  There was a tag on it marking it from $599.00 to $399.00.  You can imagine my surprise and my thought of cha ching, this might be our lucky night.  Well my buddy Jack went back and looked for us to see if they had a unit available and he came back with good and bad news.  The bad news was that the floor model was the only unit available, the good news was that it was 90% off.....WHAAAATTTT?  Yeah, my thought exactly......$59.00 for an embroidery machine....SOLD, ring it up.  Wait, not so fast, check for all parts....check.  Check for hoop.....check check.  How about software.....nope, nothing there and it says it is optional.  OK, now I am a computer geek and love a good challenge but this one is getting me.  It calls for use of eXplorations Lite software and the machine is the Bernette H79 for Bernina.   I have been searching the internet for 24 hours now and nothing.  I went and visited the Bernina lady today (yes after 2pm thank you very much) and she was extremely helpful but I am still without software and without a way to get images into the machine.  FYI, the machine was a usb port but it is the fat end of the usb if that makes sense and not like I can stick just a normal memory stick in there.  Also, the manual says that the machine's internal memory holds up to 99 designs (40 are pre-loaded).  How do I get the other designs there?  If anyone knows what I am talking about, I would be happy to load pics.

If anyone knows anything about this embroidery machine, please contact me and I will be forever in your debt.

Until next time,

Mamalou