These are a few of my favorite things….
09 Oct 2011 1 Comment
in Craftyness Tags: art journal, crafts, suziblue
I like purple, green and blue, flowers and butterflies… So, when I went into my garage in search of crafty stuff to spruce up the front of my very first Art Journal I grabbed paint pens in blue and purple (they were actually the only ones that worked), scrapbook paper and borders and silk flowers. I thought I was done several times, took a picture and upon seeing the picture on my computer screen decided to add a little something more. So here is the last – so far- final picture.
I have to admit that I was frozen.. totally afraid to start anything with this journal until after I watched Suzi blue on youtube. Her channel is called Suzibluetube :O) I have watched a LOT of her vlogs but this is one of my favorites.
One craft too many
10 Apr 2011 2 Comments
in Craftyness Tags: crafts, hardanger
I’ve been cleaning out my garage and going through boxes that were never unpacked after we moved. I have found a lot of things I’ve been missing and some things I forgot I even had. I’ve been tossing out a lot of things, donating some things and some I’m listing on ebay. In the process of listing things on ebay I saw a term I had never heard before and out of curiosity I looked it up – Hardanger. I did a search and found a website that teaches how to do it. I like the looks of this new craft and I’m dying to try it! But I can’t start a new craft right now. I am still working on too many other things. Argh, we’ll see how long I can hold out.
I still have library books on tatting I haven’t finished with and I’m still working on the crochet tote. I need to slow down. I can come back and try this later on.
Finished
12 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Craftyness Tags: beginner, blue, bookmark, crafts, tatting
I’m still sick but I wanted to post a picture of my first tatting project completed. It’s not perfect but I’m still learning. I got the pattern here http://www.tatting.de/dol/t_damana.htm
Tatted Bookmark
I think it kinda looks like a strip of bacon, only blue and lacier :O) Since I’ve been finished with this project I’ve been working on some earrings with beads. We’ll see how they come out. Tatting while I’m sick hasn’t been going so well.
Home is where the heart is
02 Mar 2011 4 Comments
in Craftyness, Personal notes Tags: chronic pain, cleaning, crafts, home, learning, making a tatting shuttle, nicholas sparks, Reading, tatting, tatting shuttle
Today is my 3rd day being at home (no longer working) and I’m loving it. So far I have done a lot of cleaning but each day I also do something fun for me. Since it had been a while since I’d done a through cleaning I decided to do my spring cleaning early. I started with the kitchen on Monday then the living room and the main bathroom on Tuesday. I still have to do the floors but it looks so much better already. Today I cleaned a bathtub/shower which really needed cleaning. Tomorrow I hope to get the other one cleaned. It feels so good to see my house really clean! I love it when my husband walks in and everything is clean. He can just sit down and relax after coming home instead of going right to his room. Before I would come in from work at the same time as Chris and I would be exhausted. Most days I would go right to bed. Working with chronic pain just takes it out of you. This left everyone to fend for themselves for dinner and laundry didn’t get done except Jared, my nearly 17 yr old, was doing his own. Most days coming home sent my husband into a yelling frenzy because the kids were not doing their chores. The garbage would be over-flowing, the sink would be full of dishes and plates would be left around the house. Now, I can make sure these things get done and there is only peace when Chris gets home. Ahhhh…..this is so much nicer!
I love to read so I started to read a book that I’ve been meaning to read for I don’t know how many years! I’m finally reading The guardian by Nicholas Sparks. I love his books. So far it seems pretty good but I’m not very far in.
I also decided to learn how to tat (a type of lace making), which I’ve always wanted to do. I looked all over town for a tatting shuttle but couldn’t find one. I was just about to order one online but there are so many and I didn’t know which to buy. So I looked online to see if I could figure out how to make one. It looks like most people carve them out of wood (or other materials) and sand them into shape. So I looked at some pictures of shuttles and tried to figure out to make one with what I had on hand. I found an empty Tide laundry detergent bottle and cut out the curved side. Then I cut out two eye shapes. I washed the soap off and then sanded the center area with an emery board to rough up the surface. I used some E-6000 glue and glued a sewing machine bobbin to the inside between the two plastic pieces. I let that dry over night and it works great! I’m so proud of my Tide bottle tatting shuttle!
Making a tatting shuttle
A little glue and wah-lah!
At first it was very frustrating trying to learn by following instructions online. There are a lot of different websites out there that attempt to explain but this person on youtube did it best! The basic stitch is easy but you have to get the stitches to “flip” from one string to the other and that’s the hardest part to figure out. Anyone who wants to learn how to tat should start with this video.
I’m working on a simple design for a bookmark in variegated blues.
My first tatting project
So I had this thought…
27 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Personal notes Tags: blogs, crafts, crochet, gardening, knitting, life, painting, Reading, slow-down
that I should start a blog. I even thought of a good name but it was already taken. Pooh. That’s when I realized that I already had a blog. So I think I should use it. What do you think?
Anyway, in this blog I had decided I would post regularly about books I was reading, good music I found, and neat quotes I came across. Maybe I could write about the crafts I’m into at the moment, including the paintings I paint, or want to paint, the things I’m knitting and crocheting and my other great ventures like my gardening efforts inside and out. Oh wait, I think that was the reason I created THIS Blog. Hmmmm, I wonder why I stopped. I guess life probably got too busy and I didn’t have as much time to reflect on the things I love. I think that means it is time to slowwwww down.
*slowing down in process
Making my first quilt
29 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Quilting Tags: crafts, quilting, sewing
- This was a nice one to start out with
I’ll post more of the blocks I’m made later. I’m learning new techniques with each one and I’m loving it.
My newest undertaking
02 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Craftyness Tags: cord, crafts, Joann's, plastic canvas
So, I was in Joann’s one day (trouble right away) and I saw one of those free patterns hanging on the shelves that grabbed my attention right away. It wasn’t for any of the multitudes of crafts I already do…. it was for plastic canvas. I never have liked the look of plastic canvas things but this was for a sharp looking black and silver clutch with BEADS. Yeah, I think it was the beads that got my attention. Anyway, I quickly started trying to find the materials needed for the pattern since the angry woman on the overhead speaker was wanting to close the store. I found the plastic canvas purse form and the silver clasp but couldn’t find the cording in the black and silver. I finally left because the voice kept getting meaner and meaner and I started to worry she was going to lock up the store with me in it.
After I got home I looked on the internet and discovered it was discontinued!! This beautiful clutch just wouldn’t look right in any other color so I started on my mission to get what I wanted and of course I now have it in my grubby little paws ;O) Thank God for the internet! I picked up the last few things I needed and sat down here ready to start my project HOURS ago. I had noticed earlier that the pattern said “advanced” but I thought how hard can it be right???? YEAH right! So I’m supposed to go from this funny looking shape to a gorgeous purse??
Piece of plastic that will become magnificent purse
I sat here puzzling over these seemingly easy instructions which I discovered were really only meant to trip you up. Well maybe not but there has to be a good explanation for me not being able to figure this out. When I was a kid I made a tissue box cover and I don’t remember it being this hard! Okay, so I finally realized I was over analyzing things and decided to read the instructions very VERY literally and finally it made since. I FINALLY realized why they wanted me to count down so many spaces and over however many more to a “starting hole” BECAUSE when I decided what the heck, I’ll just skip all that and start on the left………. well, I discovered things are pretty wonky over there. So it made since that with an odd shaped deal to work on you’d have to start at the middle! So now I have half of the top row finished and things are looking promising! Yee Haw!
Can we do it? Yes we can!
Stay tuned for more updates!
Rock, paper, scissors
09 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Craftyness Tags: coupons, crafts, crafty, ladybug, money saving, sewing
Okay, so I don’t really have a rock…. but when I was looking in my messy garage and thinking what could I make with the stuff in here I would have bet there was a rock in there somewhere. Well I found a bunch of sewing stuff that I bought when I first got my sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago and then I never used it. I really didn’t know what to do with my sewing machine then and now I’m still learning but I have learned some basics. I have also learned to just play and not be a perfectionist! So I found some pretty fabric “fat quarters” that I bought to make something and realized they weren’t as FAT as they needed to be. I need a few more inches to make what I wanted. I had 3 different patterns: a red, a yellow, and green with flowers. I also had some stiff Innerfuse which you can iron fabric onto. So I made a coupon wallet. I was currently using an envelope. It took me a while of thinking and playing with paper cut-outs to figure out how to do it but I’m very happy with how it came out! I had some adhesive velcro that I tried to use to close it with but it just came right off when I opened it. So that stuff is in the trash. So my only new purchase for my little project was some large snaps and a ladybug button for the front. The ladybug button is kind of soft and I sewed it over the snap so I would know where to push. I think it looks cute on the flower fabric. Let me know what you think! I’m thinking I might make some of these to sell for Heart Walk donations this year!
Cinderella story
27 May 2009 1 Comment
in Craftyness, Quotes Tags: cleaning, crafts, knitting, organization, Quotes, sewing, table, yarn
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” —A.A. Milne
I’m cleaning up my garage and having great fun. I’m finding such wonderful stuff that I meant to do something wonderful with someday. See, it’s a two car garage but we only have the one to park in there. My husband’s old truck doesn’t really need shelter. It really looks better when it’s covered in snow. Anyway, a while back we decided to put area rugs down half of the garage and we added tall book shelves along that wall (yes, the way my family reads we had them all full and then some). I had exercise equipment in there too. Well in looking for an area for a craft table I decided to move things around a bit in that part of the garage. We moved the bookshelves to the opposite side wall and bought sturdy plastic storage shelves for holding tubs down the wall on my side. I also have a folding table (4′) with a peg board I painted a lovely shade of purple over it. I use pegs to hold my sewing supplies and thread. Anyway, now I have to sort through all the S . T . U . F. F. in the garage into the tubs. When I’m finished it will be a great area to work in. Until then it’s drudgery…..well, until I find something I had forgotten about (like my other favorite knitting needle that I’d misplaced or that bag of super wonderful yarn I’d bought and had forgotten about) and have a small celebratory moment! That actually has been happening quite often. My kids just groan and say “what did you find now?” They don’t understand, the brats!
