Behold---New Tote for Trip to Costa Rica

My DH and I are going to Costa Rica with some friends the last of January.  This is a gifted trip from our friends as a thank you for their living in our home while were were gone for 5 months and their house was not completed to move into.  It all worked out perfect and now a week on the beach will make it all better than ever.   I of course decided a new tote was in the cards.  The pattern I have loved every time I see it is The Laura Tote by Scholosser Designs (www.erinschlosser.com ) created in collaboration with Iza Pearl Design ( www.izapearl.com ).

I chose material from my stash and was insistant with myself that I buy nothing to make my bag...stash stuff only!  Behold the stash picked for the tote:

I made a few changes to the pattern like adding a zipper pocket in the back and putting in magnetic closure.

Got to sewing and when all ready to put it together I love using the clips vs pins.  The clips makes sewing go smoothly with no pricks or pain. 

Top Stitching

After a couple of days sewing it is all done ready to head to the beach in Costa Rica.

White hair for me! I'm good with loving my hair color and the world of retirement.

Water in the background gets me in the mood for the ocean...bon voyage. I like my bag.

Yes, everything came from my stash (some material a few years old). I like to think of it as a "free" bag but we all know stash is not "free" ...but it seems free?

2016 WORD FOR THE YEAR

Each year a word comes to me to give me encouragement of sorts.  I like words a lot and play a lot of word games that challenge my mind to increase vocabulary and if only I were better at spelling sometimes.  A word this past Advent kept coming to my mind....Incarnate...To become flesh, to give a body to word, to become something from a thought, to form something real from what one cannot truly see but can give birth to and then hold it and see it and feel it and give it a place in our lives.

Learner's definition of INCARNATE

[+ object] formal

: to represent (something, such as an idea or quality) in a clear and obvious way : embody
She incarnates the fabric's real purpose. = The fabric's real purpose was incarnated into her quilting.

But Incarnate seemed a bit "heavy" for me even though I find it a word to ponder.  So...

BEHOLD took my attention as it is a word of wonderment.  Behold denotes: look at this; wow did you see this?; oh my what am I looking at; come here , come here and see this; seeing this is something great...
 Definition:
 see or observe (a thing or person, especially a remarkable or impressive one).

verb: behold; 3rd person present: beholds; past tense: beheld; past participle: beheld; gerund or present participle: beholding

synonyms:

see, observe, view, look at, watch, survey, witness, gaze at/upon, regard, contemplate, inspect, eye;

 I do see this word a useful one and gives expression to seeing the year in all kinds of places and ways.  Behold can stand alone or it can carry along other words to an ending... Thus my 2016 Word

BEHOLD