Happy travels and happy marriage!

This past weekend I threw a shower for A, my true "BFF" since our first day of kindergarten. Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I decided to host it at my parents' house (that's not the bad part) and prepare all of the food, favors, decorations, etc. etc. myself, with the help of mom and dad, of course. Oh, and make her gift.

The theme for my gift was Happy Honeymoon Travels - she and her beau are off to Bali for 3 weeks after the honeymoon where they will hopefully engage in some much-need R&R.

Gift #1: Quilted Eye Mask from In Stitches:
This one went even more smoothly than the last one, although I did get a little aggressive with my seam allowance trimming which caused some heartburn when finishing. The reverse is the cream and black striped fabric you'll see below.

Gift #2: Passport Wallet from the Summer '07 issue of Adorn Magazine.
(You can click on the picture for notes in Flickr, my new favorite thing, second to Ravelry, of course.) This project had a lot of steps but I love the result! I lined the outside with flannel plus heavyweight interfacing. The rest is done according to the instructions. I also got to use my new snap setter! Now that is good fun. Sadly, my first attempted snaps were torn off straight away by my dear husband when I went to him to solicit praises on my handiwork. I suppose it was a good test run - I learned I have to hammer harder, which I know the downstairs neighbors really appreciated.

Gift #3: Tote bag inspired by Lotta Jansdotter and Amy Karol
The outer design is of course borrowed from the every day tote in Simple Sewing. However, I also lined it with the cream/black fabric and sandwiched flannel in between the inner and outer layers and the handles (suggested by Miss Karol in Bend-the-Rules Sewing). This makes for a squishy, substantial-feeling bag and I love it!

And so did the bride!

Here are a few more shots of my domestic goodness:

Now I've just got to write my toast and I'll be all set...

PS: I'm off to San Francisco and Portland, Oregon next week for wedding festivities. Any suggestions on must-visit crafty places?