Love Me Some Purple & Green

Recognize these leaves?

The iris are beginning to bloom in our front yard.

The curves and textures draw me in.

#flowersforfriday

A Hit and Three Misses

Time for another #throwbackthursday - Crafts Edition.

Not all the crafts I try are successful. This week's post highlights three crafts I made in 2004 that didn't quite hit the mark ... and one that was a home run.


String-Pieced Potholders

Miss No. 1
One of the ladies from the quilt group I used to belong to taught me how to make potholders from scraps of fabric, old baby blankets from a thrift store for batting, and bias binding.

They came out OK, not great. Weird colors. I didn't quite get the knack of binding down. When using them, they were somewhat thin and didn't quite keep the heat away from my hands as much as I liked.

Autumn Wreaths

Miss No. 2
Straw wreaths in two sizes. Fall leaf garlands from Dollar Tree. Wrap, wrap, wrap. Add a wire bow. Decorate the porch.

The wreaths came out OK. I've used them for years. I've also rebuilt them at least twice. The more often I rebuild them, the better the outcome.

Pine Needle Basket

Miss No. 3
I took a Parks and Rec class around the year 2000 to learn to make pine needle baskets. I started a basket, but never finished it. I even bought a gorgeous book on how to make these baskets. With all the pine trees we have in our yard, we could make enough baskets to fill a swimming pool. So I gave it a try again.

Uh. No. No, no, no, no, no. Obviously, I didn't use quite the proper string to do the tying. The rafia I tried first shredded as I sewed. The neon string I used is ... gaudy and ugly. I could never quite get into the rhythm of adding some needles, and sewing, and adding some needles and ... you get the picture. I gave it a good try, though.


Candy Cane Felt Stocking Ornaments

The Big Win
Using the same idea as the mitten ornaments I made in 1998, I whipped up 33 of these ornaments. All of the materials came from my stash. I particularly like the candy canes made out of an old holey t-shirt.

The details of the lace cuff, and the plaid bow with a button center delight me. We still hang a couple of these stockings on our Christmas tree each year.

Still Learning

I'm still learning to draw a little at a time. I drew this gal while watching TV last night. It's based on a sketch I saw on Pinterest.

Seems I forgot one of her ears. Ah, well.

Floss Toss

When Jeanne was visiting last week, we took some time to pet my cross-stitch pattern collection. She pulled out several cat-themed designs that she liked.

But when she got to this design, she burst out laughing.



Easy to guess what I'll be putting my needle to next.

Orange Ya Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

#macromonday

Be a Flamingo

Here's a little something that I stitched for my career girl who flies a tad higher than her peers.
(At least, this proud mama likes to think so).

There was something about the tilt of the head, the look in her eye, the little smirk. Now, why do I see Jodie in this bird?



This was a cross-stitch kit that came with pattern, needle, floss, and this fabric with the bright blue splotch already painted on it.

As luck would have it, I had a two-tone blue double-mat in my stash that fit the stitchery just right. The frame is another from my "collection" that I've been finding ways to use up. I think I bought the plain brown frame at a thrift shop some years ago. I cleaned it up, then gave it several coats of navy blue acrylic paint. Looks good together!

After framing the stitchery, I added a dust cover on the back using this beautiful pink swirl glossy card stock from my scrapbook paper inventory. A fitting finish for this flamboyant flamingo!

Be A Flamingo

Design by Jo Moulton

Cross-stitch Kit by Dimensions #70-65168

copyright 2017

A Special Day

Look who turns two years old today!

Happy Birthday, little Melody!

Mimi and Papa will visit soon and give you lots of hugs and kisses.

And stickers. Yes. We hear you need more stickers.  Especially fishy stickers.

It's Lilac Time

#flowersforfriday

Bugle Burst Bracelets

Here's a crafty #throwbackthursday

Back in 2004, after seeing my friends make beautiful items, I wanted to learn how to make beaded jewelry too. I found several beaded bracelet kits from Mill Hill on an auction site. This gave me all the instructions and beads I needed to give the craft a try at a very low cost.

My Garnet Bugle Burst Bracelet

I was able to complete the bracelet in just four hours. The directions were fairly clear, though it would have been nice to have more explicit instructions on how to make loop knots. I followed the diagram, but I'm still not sure I got it just right.

For a first attempt, I was quite pleased. After a few more tries, I learned to handle my tension more consistently. The red bracelet (above) came from the kit.

Jeanne's bracelet made with craft beads

The following month I made a bracelet for each of my daughters. I used craft beads from my stash. The bead quality was inferior when compared to the Mill Hill glass beads in the kit. They were much more irregular and the diameter of the holes in the beads varied widely. Since I used beads I had on hand, my color combinations left something to be desired, too.

Julie's bracelet made with craft beads

The more I worked with the beads and the pattern, I could feel my skill, proficiency, and confidence growing. The thread tension became more uniform, the knots holding the beads to the clasps became less noticeable, and the bracelets went together more quickly.

Jodie's bracelet made with craft beads

Overall, beading was a good experience and I've continued to make pretty, sparkling projects in the ensuing years.

From Bud to Bloom

Our hawthorn tree



is so beautiful in the dappled sunlight.

click for larger image

Deco Lady

This is a personal favorite in my Ladies of the Evening collection. I love her curvy lines and her all-over sparkle. I found her on the streets of Coeur d'Alene, ID in (the now closed) Wiggett's Marketplace where Jodie and I were browsing years ago.

I don't quite recall what her going rate was. I know she was not as inexpensive as her sisters that I find in thrift shops. But she likely was under $15.00 because I rarely purchase these evening bags for more than that. My faulty memory says she was about ten dollars.

I call her Deco Lady because the placement of the beads has an art deco vibe to me.

This is a good sized purse for an evening bag. She measures eight inches at the hips and about seven inches from her bottom to where her handle connects. She has a white/cream satin base with clear beads. The beads have a nice iridescence to them which reflect sparks of the colors around them, Deco Lady is completely beaded, front and back with the same tassel detail on both sides.

The tassel is fully connected to the base at the head. It's made of concentric ovals of seed beads. The body of the tassel is made up of five loops of beads. Two of the loops are strings of seed beads; the other two loops are strings of bugle beads. The loose loops connect to the bag at the base of the tassel head.

The lines of beads that cover the entire bag are made up of alternating lines of seed beads and bugle beads. It's the placement of these lines of beads that is so pleasing to my eye.



Deco Lady has a three foot  braided cord that's used as a shoulder strap. All seams are covered in lines of seed beads. There is a small pocket on the inside with a tag attached that says, "Delill. Made in China." She closes with an embedded snap. I don't think she's very old, even though I found her at an antique shop.

Unfortunately, there is a fair bit of discoloration at the top of the bag near the snap. I'm not sure how to go about cleaning that.

But, my, she's a pretty gal. Such beautiful lines and oodles of sparkle!




.
I'll likely continue sharing more of my Ladies of the Evening over the coming weeks. I have many more pretty gals to show off. However, this is the tenth I've shared so far this year which means I've completed another of my 19 for 2019 Goals!

#ladiesoftheevening

Sunflower Bookmark

One of the things I like best about writing my #throwbackthursday posts is re-visiting so many of the projects I've stitched and given away. Some of them tug at my heartstrings when I see them and make me want to revisit them -- stitch them again.

That's how I felt about my sunflower bookmarks. I've stitched this pattern twice. First from a kit. Then using supplies from my own stash. Seeing them, I wanted to stitch it again. This time for me.

The thing is, I'm an avid fan of ebooks and rarely use paper books anymore. So, no real need for a bookmark collection. But it so happens that I have three paper books in progress at the moment. That gave me an excuse to stitch a third bookmark.

I used a piece of Ribband that was already cut to length and tucked away in my stash. After stitching the bookmark, I finished off the ends with a nun's stitch. I used a strand of the Ribband that I unraveled from the ends. This way, that edge stitch is barely visible. Then I frayed the ends into fringe.

Some of the things about this pattern that cause me to stitch is over again?

• The cheery colors
• the happy swaying stem
• the light green leaves outlined and veined in darker green
• the checkerboard tablecloth ... a sweet touch that grounds the flower
• the sunflower seeds made of French knots
  .
  

The kit was called "Sunflower" #2075 from Designs for the Needle. I don't see a copyright date on it, but it's got to be from the 1990s.

Do you see the price? $1.00 from Dollar General ... for an entire kit!

A Weekend Reminder

Doing nothing ...

often leads to the very best something.
                                            ~ Christopher Robin

My Meditation Practice

Succulent Terrarium

Guest blogger Jeanne here. Margaret's #1 daughter!

My mom and I like to go to the Dollar Tree together to browse the shelves for anything that strikes our fancy. Most of the time, I get household supplies while she stocks up on craft goodies.

We took a trip there this last Tuesday. My mom's half of the cart started filling up with stickers and ribbon and other fun craft items, while mine was empty except for some tape I remembered I'd run out of recently.

"You always buy such practical items!" She teased.

"It's hard for me to buy anything I don't need," I said.

That's when I spotted the tiny potted plants. I commented that I used to have plants until my cats kept eating them and I gave up growing anything else.

"You could make a terrarium," she suggested.

A moment's thought, then, "OK! I'll buy something fun this time!"

Five plants, a container, a foam base, and some pretty white rocks later, and I had myself the makings for a pet-friendly plant farm.

This little project only took me 10 or 15 minutes to put together, and I'm happy to have some plants in my home again.

Thanks, Mom, for encouraging me to get a little creative!


#flowersforfriday

Beaded Wreath Ornaments

Today's #throwbackthursday is to December 2003.

Back then, I liked to make a bunch of ornaments to give to folks who had helped me through the year: the post carrier, the receptionists at the doctor's office, the UPS deliverer, etc. I made about 50 of these beaded wreath ornaments.

I learned to make the ornaments by buying a kit. The image on the left with the gold ribbon is an ornament made from the kit. Once I understood the process, I bought wire, beads and ribbon to duplicate the process.


In 2003, I hadn't done much bead work, so it was quite a learning process. I was unable to find the exact same kinds of beads that were in the kits, so I made some substitutions. All the ornaments came out very cute ... and rather elegant!

I started by cutting a 6" piece of wire. I made a small loop at one end to act as a "knot" so the beads couldn't slide off.


On the wire, I threaded 2 of the larger petal beads, then 2 small petal beads, alternating until 7 sets of each size were on the wire (28 beads). When using the clear balls, I threaded 2 larger petal beads, 1 round ball, etc until there were 21 beads on the wire.

The beads that came in the kit were petal beads in two sizes. When I went out to buy packages of beads, I couldn't find enough of the small petal beads, so I substituted the clear balls. The petal beads also come in green, and I made a few very cute green wreaths.






After threading all the beads, I formed the wire into a circle by twisting the ends of the wire together. The more I twisted, the more circular and taut the wreath became. But if you twist too much, the wire can break and you have to start over. (No need to ask how I learned that!)

I cut a 7" piece of cording. Tied it into a loop, then tied the loop to the top of the wreath where the wire was twisted together. By adding the hanging loop at this point, I was able to hide the knot in the beads and under the bow. I used some glittery crochet thread for my hanging cord.

The bow is made from a 10" piece of ribbon and was folded back and forth in an "S" shape that has 2 loops on each side. I tied a 4" piece of ribbon around the center of the loops.


(This image shows the loops tied with a wire, so that it the "S" loops are clear. When I made the ornaments, I did tie the bow with ribbon). I fiddled with the tails until they were pleasing. This gave the bow the look of 4 loops and 4 tails.


I glued the bow to the top of the wreath. Either white glue or hot glue can be used. I tried both, and found that the hot glue worked best.

To finish the wreaths, I glued three 5mm gold beads on top of the bow. I glued three 3mm beads and three 4mm beads randomly around the wreath. By tucking some of the beads into the sides and deep into the petals, it helped the wreaths look nice.

In Word, I created a little tag to add to the hanging cord. It says, "Merry Christmas 2003! Handmade by Margaret Davaz." I then used a tiny hole punch to put a hole in the right edge of the tag and slid the tag onto the hanging cord.

At the top of this page is a finished ornament that was made from the kit.


This one to the left with the green ribbon is one of the ornaments made from the beads I gathered. It uses some of the clear round beads in place of the small petal beads.





The ornaments I made from the green beads had bright red bows. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of those. It would be cool to use two sizes of red seed beads instead of gold beads on those green wreaths. That would look like holly berries. Cute idea!

.

New Growth

#wordlesswednesday

Hosta Girls

Two Davaz women.

Two hosta beds.

Too much fun.

#twofortuesday

Succulent

I got out for a morning walk today. Beautiful weather. My neighbors' gardens are in full color.

#macromonday