Baskets Full of Blessings and Exciting News!!

It's the beginning of a brand new week, the first full week of April, and I have some exciting news to share.

I've admired the Waltzingmouse Stamps since the very first time I saw Claire's images. Her style is so elegant with a hint of whimsy, and I swoon with every new release. Well, now I have the distinct privilege of joining her fabulously creative design team. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. Claire is one of the sweetest, and her DT not only has mad stamping skills, but they are a warm and kind bunch for sure.

So, without further ado, let me get to my very first card as a Waltzingmouse DT member.

Claire has recently decided not to release images every month, but instead she is having a "Stamp of Approval Parade (SOAP), the month after a new release, so the DT can share even more creative ideas with the most recently released images. You really should check out what the WMS DT has been sharing the last three days with the sets: Back in the Saddle, Way Out West, Bitty Banners, Very Vintage Labels 18, & Vintage Banners. Talk about creative inspiration!! WOW!!

Well, on the 4th day of the parade, a previously released set will be showcased. This month, it's the Spring Baskets set. I adore the elegant baskets and the gorgeous sentiments. I chose to put the little eggs in the basket, color them with Copics, and add a bit of sparkle with my Quickie Glue Pen and ultrafine glitter.

Here's a close up so you can see the sparkle.
Can you see the flower chain in the background? I thought it would be fun to give the white bg a faux embossed look by punching out a few of the Flower Chains (EK Success Punch) and gluing them at an angle. I then added a tiny I-ROC crystal to each center.


(Click on the photo to see the sparkle)

I framed the sentiment with one of the Fancy Tags by Spellbinders, and added a felt heart (also cut with a Spellbinders die), and a sweet little rhinestone on the side.

That about sums up my card. Now comes the fun part. You have an opportunity to play along in a CASE (Copy And Share Everything) competition. Select a card or project, from any of the Designer's Blogs, that has been posted over SOAP's week, and CASE it using Waltzingmouse images. Then go to Claire's blog and use InLinkz to link your project. You have one week. The competition will close at 8:00 AM Claire’s time on April 10th, which is 3 AM Eastern, 2 AM Central and Midnight, Pacific time. The winner will be announced on Claire’s blog on April 11th, and will be featured on several of the Design Teams blogs.

Below is a list of the parade participants.

• Anya Schrier


• Belinda Chang Langner


• Bonnie Sharp


• Claire Brennan


• Jennifer Holmes


• Julia Aston


• Kate Whelan


• Laurie Schmidlin


• Lynn Mercurio


• Mona Pendleton


• Niki Estes


• Sandie Dunne


• Sarah Martina Parker

If you've come here from Sarah's Blog, you've now completed the parade since I'm the caboose. I hope you've enjoyed all the inspiration. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Happy Stamping!!

What? No Buttons or Bows?

It's time for another CCEE Challenge, and this week Joanne is challenging us to avoid using Buttons, Bows, Buckles and Brads. Now, to my way of thinking, that's just plain cruel and mean spirited. Takin' away a girls favorite embellishments? *sigh* (seriously, Joanne is the sweetest, but I have to give her a hard time for making me stretch like this...lol) I love ribbon, and I love buttons.....so, I had to take drastic measures and........yep........I made a CAS card. Truly CAS!! I got me some new toys the other day in the form of Embossing folders, and they couldn't have come at a better time. I just embossed the white panel, stamped the "Springy" sentiment from the Verve set Egg-Stra Special, and added a pieced Vervy butterfly that comes in that same Verve set. Lastly, I added some Stardust Stickles and a Kaisercraft Rhinestone. A girl's gotta add a bit of sparkle to a Spring card right?

So, I've met today's challenge. How about you? Ya think you can avoid using Buttons, Bows, Buckles and Brads? I'd love to see what you come up with. Head on over to the CCEE Blog to see some more samples, and to learn how you can join us this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Happy Stamping my friends!!
Tosh
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Stamps: Egg-Stra Special (Verve)
Paper: PTI
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories: Flourish, Dots Embossing Folder (Sizzix), Stardust Stickles, Rhinestone (Kaisercraft)

Diva Dare for March

Hello everyone!! I can't believe we're mid-week already. There's so much going on, I'm having to check my notes and calendar regularly to make sure I don't forget anything.

I made this card today for the March Diva Dare going on over on the Verve Blog. I'm Day 3, so if you haven't visited there yet, be sure to go check out Laurie's and Sankari's projects. They're fabulous!! The dare this month is titled "Color me Spring", and if you decide to take the dare, you could just be the lucky winner of some Vervaliscious goodies!! So be sure to check out all the details over on the Verve Blog.

Spring is one of my favorite seasons. Not too hot, and color everywhere!! When I think spring, I think of flowers, birds, butterflies, and new life. So, I made a wedding card (new life together) with flowers and butterflies. And since I was thinking about all things new, I thought I'd try a new technique. Now, I've made easel cards before, but never a Circle Easel. So this was fun!

I'm a die and punch-a-holic, so while designing this card, I knew I was going to use the new A Cut Above dies. Julee thinks of everything when she designs. I LOVE how each die in the Charming Oval and Charming Banner dies works with each other. I have a perfect mat around each shape (no more cutting...ye-haw!!), and the banners fit perfectly inside the ovals. How sweet is that!!! Then there's the sweeeeeeeet Flutterby die!! Love the two sizes of these butterflies too. You can find the large one in the Chicks Rule set, and the smaller one in the Egg-stra Special set. I added a bit of Stardust Stickles to the centers to make these flying beauties pop. And, since I wanted to make this a wedding card I combined images and dies from the newest release with sentiments from a previous release called Love Story. Julee's designs work that way...mixing and matching is not only a breeze, but oh so fun!!

Here's a close up of the smaller Charming Banner Die paired with the Charming Oval Dies, along with the sweet Flutterby image that I cut with the Flutterby die.

And here's a close up of the Charming Oval dies that I included on the inside of the card.



That's it for my Diva Dare project. Be sure to head on over to the Verve Blog to see how you could win some Verve goodies!!

Happy Stamping!!
Tosh
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Stamps: Chicks Rule, Egg-stra Special, Love Story (Verve)
Paper: Botanical dp (Prima), Vintage Cream (PTI)
Ink: Onxy Black and Smokey Gray (Versafine), Old Paper (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Dies: Charming Oval, Charming Banner and Flutterby (Verve), Standard Circle and Scallop Circle (Spellbinders), Tag and Embossed Circle (Marianne Design Creatables), Flowers and Heart Floral Gems (Wild Orcid Crafts), Pearls (Kaisercraft), Stardust Stickles, Velvet Lace (Prima), Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Wired Loopy Ribbon

March Verve Release After-Party

There's an after party goin' on over at the Verve Blog today where you can see each Verve Diva's favorite project made with the newest Verve release. Click HERE to see the entire collection. If you purchase the whole shebang, it's 15% off!! How awesome is that!!!

I chose to use the Hope Perches Plain Jane for this card. I love the sentiment, and just happened to purchase some beautiful feathers from Hobby Lobby recently. Talk about perfect timing. Here's a close-up of the sentiment. Isn't the font and arrangement beautiful?!?!?



I also made this Knotted Chrysanthemum flower a short while ago (with satin and organza ribbon) and was waiting for the perfect time to use it. I purchased the tutorial HERE.

I love this Madeline patterned paper by My Mind's Eye, and thought it would be perfect with this sentiment, flower and feathers. I added a bit of sparkle too with some rhinestones by Prima and Kaisercraft. The layout, is a loose interpretation of Sankari's VLV sketch found HERE.


Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you had a nice weekend!
Don't forget to check out the Verve Blog today.
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Verve Spotlight Hop Day 3 ~ Chicks Rule and Flutterby Die

It's Day 3 of the Verve Spotlight Hops, and we're hopping with the new set Chick's Rule, along with a new Flutterby Die.


I started off by stamping the basket, and then I stamped and masked the flowers inside. Lastly I added this sweet little chick. Everything was colored with Copics, and I added some Gunmetal Stickles to the flower centers along with some glitter. This set comes with a whoppin' 21 images. I used the Flowers, the Chick, the large butterfly and the sentiment. The little butterfly is from the new Egg-stra Special set.

I also used the new Viva la Verve Sketch, provided by the sweet and talented Sankari. You can find it in the Verve Forum.

Now, don't forget, the Release Party is tonight from 9-11 pm Eastern.

Here's the hop list for today.

1. Maureen	7. Sankari
2. Amy	8. Tosh
3. Amber	9. Julee
4. Janelle	10. Andrea
5. Teresa	11. Charmaine
6. Laurie

Now, we love to celebrate here at Verve, so we've hidden a prize along the hop today! One lucky commenter on one of the Diva Hop Spots below will receive today's featured stamps, (Lucky Ducky and the Hope Perches Plain Jane) plus the Charming Oval Die Set we'll be previewing tomorrow! Deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, March 25. Winners will be announced during our ReLeAsE pArTy tonight!

Hope you've had fun with the hops these last 3 days, and have found some inspiration!! Hope to see you tonight, and have a super great weekend!!

Happy Stamping!
Tosh
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Stamps: Chicks Rule, Egg-stra Special (Verve)
Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI), Fine and Dandy (MME)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Old Paper (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Copics, Labels 12 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Buttons (PTI), Baker's Twine (The Twinery), Seam Binding Ribbon, Rhinestones (Kaisercraft), Border Punch (EK Success), Sewing Machine

Verve Spotlight Hop Day 2 ~ Egg-stra Special and Dies

It's Day 2 of the Verve Spotlights, and we're hopping with a new set called Egg-stra Special. Verve is also releasing some new dies: Charming Banner and Charming Oval. They're just the sweetest! All the new stamps and dies you see over the next three days will be available following our ReLeAsE pArTy this Friday night from 9-11pm Eastern.

I have a CAS card to share today, in which I used two different eggs (there are 4 designs), and one of the sentiments (there are 7 in this set). This set has a total of 17 images, so there's a lot to choose from.

I colored my eggs with Copics, and added a touch of sparkle to the "special" egg with some glitter. Here's a close-up so you can see the sparkle better.


That's it for my card today. You won't want to miss what these other gals have created with this set. They're all amazingly creative!!

1. Laurie 7. Julee 2.Charmaine 8. Sankari 3. Jackie 9. Janelle 4. Amber 10. Maureen 5. Tosh 11. Teresa 6. Andrea 12. Amy

Don't forget, we've hidden a prize along the hop today! One lucky commenter on one of the Diva Hop Spots below will receive today's featured stamps, (Lucky Ducky and the Hope Perches Plain Jane) plus the Charming Oval Die Set we'll be previewing tomorrow! Deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, March 25. Winners will be announced during our ReLeAsE pArTy that night!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stamps: Egg-stra Special (Verve)

Paper: Kraft and Vintage Cream (PTI), Stella Rose Mabel (MME)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Large Scallop (MFT), glitter, Quickie Glue Pen, Rhinestones (Kaisercraft), Sewing Machine

March Verve Spotlight Hop

Hi Verve fans! Are you ready to see some new Verve? We're counting down to our Friday, March 25 release with three days of Spotlight Hops! This release is all about spring whimsy, lucky ducks and hip chicks and we're starting things off with a look at our brand new mini set and plain jane. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... well, then, it's probably a Lucky Ducky, which is today's featured set! All the new stamps and dies you see over the next three days will be available following our ReLeAsE pArTy this Friday night from 9-11pm Eastern.

Now, let me show you my card.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch, and sweet and talented diva Jackie was the inspiration behind the tag. She made the cutest little tags with the set To the Moon. So, I thought I'd use the duck from the new set Lucky Ducky in a similar way. It's a sweet set with 2 little ducks with 3 fun sentiments to match. I colored the duck bill with Copics and added some Polar White Flower soft to him to give him that fluffy look. I also used the Sweet Scallop Tag Die (Verve), along with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Boy MME paper, PTI buttons and Ribbon, and some liquid pearls. That about sums is up for me.

Now here's the list of spotlight hoppers:

1. Charmaine	7. Teresa
2. Janelle	8. Amber
3. Laurie	9. Tosh
4. Jackie	10. Amy
5. Sankari	11. Andrea
6. Julee	12. Maureen

And hopping along with us this month is our March Guest Diva, Janelle Stollfus! Her gorgeous entry in our February 2011 Get Your Diva On challenge won her a spot as this month's Guest Diva, and I'm so excited for you to see what she's come up with for this release! You're definitely not going to want to miss a thing!

Oh, and did I mention there's a prize??? We love to celebrate here at Verve, so we've hidden a prize along the hop today! One lucky commenter on one of the Diva Hop Spots below will receive today's featured stamps, (Lucky Ducky and the Hope Perches Plain Jane) plus the Charming Oval Die Set we'll be previewing tomorrow! Deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, March 25. Winners will be announced during our ReLeAsE pArTy that night!

Hope to see you Friday night!!
Happy Stamping my friends!!
Tosh

JustRite Blog Hop with Stamper's Dream

There's a JustRite blog hop going on, and the Stamper's Dream team is joining in. Along the hop, there are 3 great blog candy prizes hidden. For your chance to win, simply leave a comment on each blog. Blog comments will remain open until 8 pm CST, Tuesday March 22nd. The 3 winners will be announced on the Stamper's Dream Blog and the JustRite Blog on March 23rd. Prizes: 4 JustRite Stamp sets of your choice, a $50 Prize package from Stamper's Dream, or a $50 Shopping spree to the JustRite Webstore. (I've included the hop list at the bottom of my post.)


For my card, I colored one of the new images from the Vintage Oval Labels JustRite set with Copics, popped up the two center panels, and added some sparkle with glitter and Zva Creative Rhinestones. The sentiment is from the Happy Everything Tag Making Kit. Lastly, I added some loopy ribbon, Prima flowers, crytstal gems from Wild Orchid Crafts, and a Martha Stewart Punched border along the side. Oh, and the dp is all Timeless by Teresa Collins.

Here's the yummy blog candy offered by Stamper's Dream!!

That's it for my project today. Now check out what the other gals have created today.

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Becca Feeken
Michelle Rodgers
Debbie Olson
Amy Sheffer
Kazan Clark
Cindy Lawrence
Heidi Blankenship
Kellie Fortin
Tosh Leyendekker <~~you are here
Barb Schram
Arlene Cuevas
Michele Kovack
Teresa Kline
Kathy Jones
Mariana Grigsby
Sankari Wegman
Christina Fischer
Angela Barkhouse
Lea Lawson
Eva Dobilas
Kim Teasdale

Loopy Flower Tutorial

For Sarah's Celebration blog Hop, scroll down, or click HERE.

I've had some requests for a tutorial on how to make the flower found HERE. It's really easy, and only involves a few steps. However, sewing is involved.

I started with a 1 1/2" circle and 3 strips of felt: width: 2", 1 1/2", and 1" (the length is up to you depending on how large a flower you want to make. The top two are about 9", but you won't use the whole length of each.

Fold them all in half and sew as close to the edge as you can.

Cut 1/4" or 1/8" strips along the whole length. Don't go past the stitches though.

Glue along the outside edge of the circle, cut off excess, and attach the excess on the inside again forming two layers of loops. (I use hot glue.)

Continue by attaching the next size strip, and then the smallest size in the center.

Glue an embellishment to the center. This time I used a Pearl.

It's quite easy and can be made in a very short amount of time. I used felt from Prairie Point Junction, and the pearl is from Prima.

Hope this was clear enough. If you make some of these, send me the links. I'd love to see your creations.

Happy stamping!!
Tosh

Celebration Blog Hop for Sarah!

Sarah Bigelow is celebrating her Birthday and Blog Anniversary with a blog hop and I have the honor of joining along. She's provided a fabulous sketch for us all to use and I've listed the blog links below. We'd love to have you join us by making a card using her sketch and linking it to her blog by April 2. There are Verve prizes to be won!! You can head on over to Sarah's Creations for all the specific details.



For my card, I used a sentiment from the Verve set Big Wish, with some Glitz Paper Love Games as the backdrop. I also made my own flower out of felt. Here's a little bit closer look of the flower. If you click on the photo, you can see it better.

Stamps: Big Wish
Paper: Vintage Cream and Black (PTI), Love Games (Glitz)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Black Soot (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Oval Nestabilities and Fancy Tags (Spellbinders), Rhinestones (Prima and Iroc), Felt (Prairie Point Junction), Rhinestone Brad (JoAnn), Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Ivory Satin Ribbon (PTI)

I've kept this short so you can visit the other blogs on the hop. You won't want to miss their inspirational creations!

Sarah
Teresa
Wanda
Debbie
Tosha ~ you are here
Stephanie
Julee
Betty
Marisa
Andrea
Lynda
Charmaine
Keva
Amy

Happy Stamping!!
Tosh

Dream Big Viva la Verve

Jackie is hosting the Viva la Verve challenge over in the Verve Forum this week and has provided this fun sketch.


I stamped the flower, from the Verve set Dream Big, with Perfect Plumeria and Spanish Olive VersaMagic, and the sentiment with Onyx Black Versafine. The Patterned Paper is from Echo Park's Line Springtime. I also added some lace from Kaisercraft, some Rhinestones by Zva Creative, a button from PTI, and a bit of sparkle to the flower with a Quickie Glue Pen and some Ultrafine glitter.

Lastly, I punched the border with an EK Success Border punch, and scored some lines with my Scor-Buddy.

That's it from me today. Be sure to check out the Verve Forum to see some examples by the divas. And we'd love to see how this sketch inspires you.

Thanks so much for stopping.
Have a super weekend!
Tosh

Stamps: Dream Big
Paper: White (PTI), Springtime (Echo Park)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Perfect Plumeria, Spanish Olive (VersaMagic)
Accessories: Corner Rounder, Corner Tag Punch (SU!), Lace (Kaisercraft), Rhinestones (Zva Creative), Border Punch (EK Success), Baker's Twine (Twinery), Scor-Buddy

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I have a CCEE challenge card to share with you today, and since it's St. Patrick's Day, we've been challenged to include green on a critter or person. Well, I chose to make my critter a green butterfly that I made with a Martha Stewart punch.

I used this week's Mojo 182 sketch as my inspiration. The sentiment is a Plain Jane verse Psalm 3:3 by Verve, and the flower was made with the Spellbinders Sunflower Set.

Here's a close up of the butterfly and flower.

I have another card to share with you today also. You see, it's my husband's 50th birthday today, so of course I had to make him a special card. Everything on this card came from the Echo Park kit "For the Record". Notice the green celebrate and button? It is St. Patrick's Day after all. :)

Stamps: Psalm 3:3 (Verve)
Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI), Stella Rose Mabel (MME)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Black Soot, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Sunflower Set (Spellbinders), Quickie Glue Pen, Glitter, Seam Binding Ribbon, Button (PTI), Rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

Stamps: None
Paper: Black and White (PTI), For the Record (Echo Park)
Ink: None
Accessories: Echo Park Stickers, Black Burlap String (May Arts), Button (PTI)

That's it for today ya'll!! Thanks for dropping by. Be sure to stop by the CCEE Stamper's Blog to see their green critters!!

Happy Stamping!!
Tosh

Get Your Diva On for March!

Last month Charmaine kicked off a new Verve challenge in the Verve Forum. It's called "Get Your Diva On. Each month one of the divas will host a week long challenge of their choice. And there's a super prize too. So click HERE to read about all the details.

I decided to do a color challenge. Since we're all looking forward to Spring's arrival, and the disappearance of all the bare trees, and dead grass, I thought it would be a good idea to get in touch with nature and go "au naturale". Use all natural colors: brown, gray, black, white, ivory, and just a splash of color...kind of like the flowers poking through, the trees budding, etc.

For my card, I used browns, ivory and a smokey gray with a hint of teal. I used the flower and the leaves from the Verve set Great Friend, and the Plain Jane Verse Psalm 46:1. The leaves were stamped onto the kraft with Pumice Stone Ranger Distress Ink after being stamped off once.

That's it for my card. Now I'd love to see your ideas with these colors. Please stop by the Verve Forum to check out the samples made by some of the divas, and to see how you can participate!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Stamps: Great Friend, Psalm 46:1
Paper: Vintage Cream, Smokey Shadow, kraft (PTI), Melody (Prima)
Ink: Smokey Gray (Versafine), Pumice Stone (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Labels 3 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Ribbon (Maya Road and SU!), Brad (JoAnn), Pearls (Zva Creative)

Butterfly Blog Linky Party

Sweet and talented Eva Dobilas is hosting a Butterfly blog linky party, and everyone is invited to participate. All you have to do is make a project with butterflies on it, and link it on her blog. I love butterflies and spring, so I'm thrilled to join her party.

Here's what I made:

I purchased some fabulous Creatables Dies from Marianne Design and thought this large scalloped circle with flourishes would be a perfect starting point. I used Making Memories' Je t'Adore patterned paper for my base, and framed the Verve sentiment, "A Cheerful friend is like a sunny day spreading brightness all around"~ John Lubcock, from the set Text Objects. I framed it with the Labels 14 Nestabilities die by Spellbinders. Now the whole point of this project is to include butterflies, so I punched out this gorgeous Martha Stewart butterfly and added some glitter with my Quickie Glue pen.

Here's a close up: (click on the photo for a closer look at the sparkle)

All the edges were ink distressed with Antique Linen Ranger distress ink, and I added some Kaisercraft pearls to the border..

That's it for my project. Be sure to stop by Eva's Blog "For the Love of Life", either to join the hop, or to see everyone's butterflies!

Thanks so much for dropping by. I hope you're having a blessed weekend!!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Stamps: Text Objects
Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI), Je t'Adore (Making Memories)
Ink: Smokey Gray (Versafine), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Creatables die (Marianne Design), Labels 14 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Butterfly and border Punch (Martha Stewart), Pearls (Kaisercraft), Silk Ribbon (May Arts), Flower (Jo-Ann)

Delightful Viva la Verve Sketch

It's Friday!! Woo-Hoo!! The weekend is finally here, and my imac is all better thanks to the apple doc!! I tell ya, the service department at the apple store in Fresno, is "the bomb"!! So kind, so helpful, and oh, so smart!! I even got my daughter set up with a macbook for college. I know...she's spoiled. :)

As for my card for today, well I used the fantastic Viva la Verve March Week 3 sketch by Maureen. I just got some fun new MME Stella Rose "Journal cards", and this sketch was perfect for it! I just added two charming coffee cups from the Verve set Delightful and Delicious, some MFT scallops, a couple of PTI buttons, and some natural burlap string that I colored with the N5 Copic marker to match the papers. The sentiment panel was ink distressed with Pumice Stone and Scattered Straw Ranger Distress Ink. Lastly, I added a couple of Iroc rhinestones a bit of stitching and paper distressing with my Distrezz-it-All. That's it. Fun and easy.

Thanks for dropping by!!
Have a fun, safe weekend!
Hope you get some stamp therapy in. I know it does me some good!!
Happy stampin' ya'll!
Tosh

Stamps: Delightful and Delicious (Verve)
Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI), Stella Rose Hattie (MME)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Pumice Stone and Scattered Straw (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Labels 2 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Copics, Buttons (PTI), Natural Burlap String (May Arts), Iroc Rhinestones, Scallop die (MFT), Distrezz-it-All, Sewing machine