30 Craft Market

I am busily preparing for the 30 Craft Market at the Peterborough Public Library on May 12th from 12-5. Admission is free. Below is the poster.

Tonight with a good cup of decaf coffee in my favorite Iris Dorton mug and a fresh pumpkin muffin I am making tote bags for the upcoming show.

Here are just a sample of some of the ones I am making. Every one has a decal on it, whether that be a felt pin like the one above or some lace like the one below. I even put some wooden hearts on some bags.

Here is a bunch hanging on the back of my craft room door, this years theme color is.....orange. Tangerine Tango happens to be the color of the year, according to Pantone anyways.

I hope you can make it out to the craft show it should be a really good day. I am at booth number 21, in the middle island and my company name is LA Vida Dolce. \See you soon!

Lace it up

I had my friend Elvira over for tea and I showed her my tote bags. Then I showed her a bunch of lace that I got from my friend Heidi. She said why don't you put it on the tote bag and so I did. It is so cute. They are ready to order if you want one. Large is $30, medium is $25 and small $20. Email me at laura_vanderherberg@hotmail.com if you would like to buy one. 

Here is an example of a small tote, the other one is a medium tote.  

I also made something today that I saw off of Pinterest.com. They are button thumb tacks. They are super easy to make. Take a thumb tack and glue a button on the top of it. A glue gun probably works best.

 I hope this inspires you to be creative and to take what you have and turn it into something fabulous!

Repetition is not my forte

I am gearing up for the 30 under 30 craft show at the Peterborough Public Library. But that means doing a lot of the same things over and over again, such as cutting out circles for felt flowers and sewing them together by hand.

I went to the One of a kind show the end of March with my friend Jenn. She owns her own business doing Kindermusic in Guelph. I told her that doing the grunt work and doing the same thing over and over is not fun for me. I like the creative process, exploring new possibilities, etc. But she gave me some good advice, it basically went like this... If you want to have a business sometimes you have to do things you don't like. This could be anything from cutting out tons of felt circles, to preparing your taxes.

I think it is sound advice and certainly advice that I am going to put into practice. But obviously I won't lose what I love to do best which is discovering new ways to create things that people enjoy. I did see a project on www.pinterest.com that involved yarn, glue and a balloon, hmmmm.... Well maybe after I finish my felt flowers and sewing all my tote bags. Here are some pictures of tote bags, some are done and some need to be finished.

A good meal deserves a well dressed table

I had a dinner party last night with some new friends and neighbors at my new house on Downie St. We have a great little community among our neighborhood block. I have actually borrowed sugar from my neighbor and my one neighbor came to use my phone, my other neighbor took at nap at our house because she got locked out. All I can say is that it's pretty awesome.

The great thing about the dinner party last night was that I didn't even have to cook, I just got to decorate the table which is my favorite part. Here are some pictures of the table.

I actually have a lot more pictures of the table but I will refrain from showing them to you because I am guessing you are not as excited about it as I am. 

Here is Michael (not my brother) pretending to be Luke Skywalker with a frying pan.

Carolyn, my new roommate, chopping up stuff for the mango salad which was awesome. 

Here is everyone enjoying dinner.

Here I am being silly.

Shameless self promotion

I bought a onsie for my nephew William off of www.etsy.com. I told my brother what it said and he said, "that is shameless self-promotion." I agree. 

I am also going to blog about a wreath I made last night after I got back from an awesome wine and cheese party and then a campfire with my neighbors. I got the wire wreath form from Fabricland, it was %50 off so I think I paid less than $5 for it. The yarn I picked up somewhere and the felt flowers I made from the beautiful felt I got from Felt on the Fly.

If you want to make one I suggest checking out a tutorial at http://www.danielleburkleo.com/2010/10/diy-yarn-wreath-with-felt-flowers.html. If you want me to make you one, I am selling them for $20.00. Email me at laura_vanderherberg@hotmail.com  

Encouragement is the best gift 2

I posted back in March about encouraging words that I received for my birthday. Check out the blog post at http://www.lauraannv.blogspot.ca/2012/03/encouragement-is-best-gift.html or go back in the archives. Several years ago I made a scrapbook of cards I had received from 1998-2006, I thought why not make another one. My card pile was really getting big and it was time to create another scrapbook. Below is the finished product, but I will let you see what treasures lie inside.

\

I made an awesome cover page for the scrap book which I just have to share. I also must boast that I got this piece of scrapbook paper for .25cents. I am the queen of finding cheap craft supplies, maybe one of my posts should be about that. 

My brother Michael and his lovely wife Andrea have given me many cards over the years. Michael and I weren't close in high school. But since moving to Peterborough in 2006, Michael and Andrea have been a big blessing in my life. Providing a place for me to live, helping me move, inviting me over for dinner and much more. I praise God for them. Here are some of the unique and wacky cards they have made me over the last five years.

Stephen and Stacy, my brother and sister in law are also a big source of encouragement for me. They seem to know just what to say to bring a smile to my face and a lightness in my heart.

Other family members have given me cards which I have kept. On the right is my brother Mark and his wife Jenn. They are expecting identical twins in July! My mom also gives me nice cards from their Christian bookstore. My Aunt Lynn is a painter and she painted that lovely red apple. 

I blogged about a dear friend of mine who passed away in the summer of 2010. You can read about it at http://www.lauraannv.blogspot.ca/2012/03/spring-tote-bag.html. I dedicated a page to the cards she sent me between 2007 and her death in 2010. What an encouragement she was to me, especially during my early days of struggling with my illness. 

Jenn and I have been friends since we were 5. We have walked with each other through the hard times and the good times. I can't say it any better than the card she gave me one year for my birthday.

Alida and I have been friends since we were 12. She has walked with me through some of the darkest days of my life and some of the best too. She always says that I bring out the silly side in her. She is a true blue friend and I am glad to say that her husband Jordan is becoming a good friend too.

Ruth has been a friend just as long as Alida. We didn't like each other at first, Ruth thought I was snobby (haha). But as fate would have it we became good friends and have remained that way. I took this picture below from my craft room because it reminded me of Ruth, a good cup of tea and beautiful flowers.

Leona is my cousin who is also a dear friend. Her words of encouragement throughout the years have always done my heart good. 

These next cards are from my church family. I go to two churches. In the morning I go to Living Hope Christian Reformed Church and in the evening I go to a small house church. These are cards from my community of faith which have lifted up my spirits.

\

The next couple of pages of the scrapbook are just random birthday cards and Christmas cards. I though I would show them to you just for fun. Thanks for reading my blog, come again soon!