One of My Superpowers

Baking flaky pie crust!

Throwback Thursday - 2002 (Part 2)

I made these projects from June through September 2002


Alaskan Whale Christmas Ornament

This is the fourth in a series of ornaments I picked up while Dale and I were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in Alaska.

I used 14ct tan aida. I finished it using a flat ornament method and made the (strange-looking) cording from some variegated 4-ply yarn.

Russian Church Christmas Ornament

This is the fifth in the series of Christmas ornaments from Calico Cache. It depicts the Russian Cathedral in Sitka, Alaska. I really wanted to explore this church, but since we were in Sitka for such a short time, I didn't get the chance. I did see the outside of the church while on a bus tour. I stitched this ornament on a scrap of 25ct white Lugana and finished it like a little pillow with a satin ribbon hanger.

Totem Pole Christmas Ornament

This is the sixth and last in the Calico Cache designs from Alaska. The bottom of this totem pole is a beaver, the center is a whale, and the top is an eagle. This is also stitched on 25ct white Lugana, finished as a little pillow, and has a picot edged satin ribbon hanger. Lugana is one of my favorite fabrics to use for cross-stitch.

Hydrangea Blossom Daydream

I whipped this Dimensions Daydream kit up in a day for my ailing next door neighbor. My teenage daughter Julie was invited to her 72nd birthday party. I wanted to give Peggy a special gift with flowers because she filled her yard with flowers that I got to enjoy. Peggy's illness made it almost impossible for her to go outside anymore.

These Daydream kits are simple and pretty. The color blending is very nice. The charts are quite detailed. The little dragonfly charm was part of the kit, along with the green corrugated cardboard. The kits in this collection retailed for about $10. The finished size is a 5" square.

Twill

Gosh, I enjoy this set of fairy designs by Ronda Jean! There were three or four in the series, but Twill is the only one I've stitched so far. I've kept it for myself. The designer describes her piece this way:

Have you ever wondered where all those lost needles go? Well ... let me introduce you to "Twill" -- the guardian fairy of lost needles. Making his home in or very near your favorite cross-stitch place, Twill gathers needles of every size for his collection. If you're quick, you might see his twinkle of light as he goes about his rounds.

Twill is stitched on 25ct blue Lugana. The chart called for a lot of specialty fibers that I didn't have, so I made a lot of substitutions. The blue button is from my grandmother's button collection. The spool at Twill's feet is wrapped with a silk ribbon that ends in his hand, threaded through a real needle. Another real needle rests below the spool of thread. I made the tiny tassel for the tip of his cap to put some of my tassel education to use.

I framed Twill in a simple gold frame with a maroon mat, adding a touch of fiberfill between the stitching and foam core to give the finished piece a soft appearance.

I think of Twill more as an elf than as a fairy and display him every Christmas.

A Mouse?

I found this kit in a half price bin at my local needlework shop. The goofy expression on the cat's face drew me in. My oldest daughter really liked it, so I stitched it for her as a way of congratulating her for getting through a tough school year.

Stitching on perforated plastic was a nice change from fabric, even through it goes a bit more slowly because I needed to alter my usual stitching style. By stitching on plastic, there is no way to poke the needle through a wrong hole, like can happen when stitching on an evenweave. There are no quarter stitches, so stitching in all whole cross-stitch takes much less mental effort.

I enjoy the finishing on this piece. The paw print, the fish, the sign, and the cat are all separate pieces which are assembled on a twisted piece of wire.

I'll finish showing my 2002 projects in my next #throwbackthursday post.

That Time of Year

My birthday twin, Jeanne, sent me a gift last week. I get to open it now.

Elf Container

Ho Ho! It's time for another Christmas craft!

Several years ago, my three daughters and I had a craft "club" called AuralArtists. We'd either choose a theme and make items to share, like our wizard wands, or I'd create a "mystery box" which I'd fill with oddball items that we each used to create a craft of our own choosing.

On Earth Day in 2016, Jodie and I had a crafternoon via Skype and decided to craft with recycled materials. I used:

• Oatmeal box
• Peanuts can
• Batting bought at a thrift store
• Fabric from a child's dress
• Nylon stocking
• Styrofoam ball (not recycled, but old)

I also decided to start that season's Mystery Box challenge at the same time. It had a Holiday theme. That day, I began this project. You can see how far I got if you look at the Earth Day blog post.

Today I finished it!

The origins of this elf go all the way back to when I was in 2nd grade. My mom was a girl scout leader for my sister's troop. One of the projects the "big girls" made was a Santa made out of an oatmeal container, a styrofoam ball, and some contact paper. I think that after the project was done they filled the Santa's belly with cookies.

I was too small to do the project then, but I remember how much it intrigued me.

So with my mom as my inspiration, and my supplies at hand, I decided to make my own version. The main body of the elf is pretty straight forward. I wrapped a big oatmeal container in some fabric from a recycled children's dress (a sewing project my mom started and never finished). The belt is made from a strip of black craft felt, glued into place. The buckle is cut from a piece of thick silver paper that was the inside of a fancy Christmas card envelope.

The elf's head is made from a styrofoam ball. I first covered it in batting, then covered the batting with a nylon stocking, all held in place with pins.

I used more batting to create a beard and mustache, held in place with pins and glue. I glued on some wide googly eyes. Then I formed a hat out of a triangle of the same deep red fabric. I used another length of batting for the hat trim, gluing it in place. The poof at the tip of the hat is an old powder puff, which I sewed in place.

To hold the hat to the head, I slipped a silver snowflake-shaped piece of sequins onto a strait pin that has a silver head. I then dipped the pin into hot glue, and pinned through the brim of the hat into the styrofoam ball. The snowflakes go all around the brim. 

A peanut can acts as the elf's neck/chest. It, too, is covered in the red fabric. I used a black Sharpie to color in the top edge where the fabric doesn't quite reach the lip where the lid attaches. The elf head is hot-glued onto the lid of the peanut can. This way the entire head can be removed so goodies can be stored in the small can.

The small can is glued to the lid of the oatmeal container. It, too, can be removed so that more treats can be stored there. 

Does this mean it's time to start baking Christmas cookies so I can fill the canister? Oh! I hope so!

Twisted Taxidermy

Some may say that the idea of one of Santa's reindeer ending up as taxidermy on our wall is, well, quite a twisted idea. So, call me twisted. I think it's funny!

I set about this project by purchasing a reindeer ornament at the Dollar Tree. The size of this 5-point rack, plus head, is just under six inches.

I bought a brassy-gold frame at a thrift shop for a dollar. The frame has a nice bit of weight and came with glass and backboard. The frame normally holds a 3.5" x 5" photo. The outside dimensions form an approximately 5" x 6" oval.

Using a brilliant silver spray paint, I turned the brassy-gold into bright silver.

Next I turned to the backboard. I used some spray adhesive on the black velvet board, then covered it with plaid, centering it as well as possible so that the plaid doesn't look wonky behind the deer. Then I trimmed the fabric close to the edge of the backboard with pinking shears to help keep the fabric from raveling.

I cleaned the glass, then put the frame back together, securing the backboard into the frame.

The ornament had a couple issues. First, it had quite a bit of glitter fallout. So I sprayed it with hairspray and let it dry. This keeps more of the glitter on the ornament than on my work surface.

The second issue is that there were some bald spots on the deer's jowl. So I used some metallic silver glitter acrylic paint to cover up those spots. Thus proving the paradox that a Christmas ornament can have both too much glitter and not enough glitter at the time time.

The final step was to use hot glue to adhere the base of the ornament to the glass.

I think I'm going to hang this over the "No Soliciting" sign by the front door. Maybe it will act as a deterrent!

Journal Cover

My sister Eleanore and I have talked this year about my experience with The Artist's Way course. She recently bought the book and said she hopes to start it in the coming months. I want to encourage that process, so decided to give her a journal she can use for her Morning Pages.

W-A-Y back in 2000, I stitched Bob the Bear for my sister. It was to be one of three sailor bears I intended to stitch and turn into a bellpull. My sister collected bears at the time. Her husband was in the Navy for years. Putting those two ideas together was the impetus of my idea. Unfortunately, I stitched the first bear, then the idea languished. So for this gift, I decided to re-frame my idea and put the completed bear to a new use.

Here you can see how I hemmed the stitchery

For Eleanore's journal, I decided to sew a reusable cloth cover. This way, if she so chooses, she can put the cover on a different standard 8-1/2" x 11" notebook once the first Morning Pages journal is full. I used a fat quarter of dotted blue cotton to create the book cover. I liked the way the fabric complemented the colors in Bob's pants. Here you can see the pockets on the inside of the book cover that slide over the edges of the cardboard and hold the fabric cover in place.

Next, I trimmed the fabric around the stitching, folded about 1/4" of fabric to the back, and sewed a hem on all four sides. I then covered the back of the stitching with a fusible web. The web is basically a sheet of glue that you press onto the back of the stitched fabric. You then remove the backing paper, and adhere the glued fabric to the front of the book cover. Once glued in place with a hot iron, I sewed the stitchery down around the edges to make sure it was secure.

As a final touch, I attached a ribbon that can be used as a bookmark. I also inscribed the notebook with a special message for my sister.

With the gift complete, I felt like giving it a special wrapping. I wrapped the notebook in yellow tissue paper, to coordinate with the card I made. Then I added some wide blue grosgrain ribbon.

For a final touch, I pulled out my container of paper flowers and leaves. I acquired these as part of a lot of scrapbooking supplies I bought a few months ago. This was my first chance to use them. I found three blue flower shapes that worked well together, and stacked them in place, holding them together with a spot of glue. I added a pearl sticker as the center. Then I found a pretty autumn leaf in among the paper flowers and added it for the final touch.

I even managed to get the package in the mail so it could be delivered on time.

This is one of my favorite kinds of gifts to make. It involves many of my hobbies: needlework, sewing, papercrafting, making pretty packages. It's also a practical gift. Plus, I was finally able to utilize a piece of stitchery that long languished in a box and make it into a gift for the person I'd originally intended to receive it.

Thanksgiving Card

We had such a nice Thanksgiving except for one thing. At the last minute, my mother-in-law needed to refrain from joining us. She was missed. So in between baking pies and getting the stuffing ready, Jeanne and I slipped down to my Studio and put this card together for her.

• I had some lovely Thanksgiving scrapbook paper that we used for the background
• Jeanne cut a pumpkin shape from some paper that our little Melody had painted ... I'd say "fingerpainted" except that she painted with her feet as much as with her fingers!
• We added a bit of colorful ribbon

On the inside we wrote a message that we missed her, and everyone at our celebration signed it. It was presented to her with a plateful of the Thanksgiving feast and pie later that evening.

Several of us were able to stop by and visit her the next day. So glad to see she was in good spirits.

Our Melody

We had a busy, lovely Thanksgiving holiday. This little cutie helped me make pie in the morning. She sat on my lap during dinner, eating up all the cranberry sauce on my plate and learning that she likes lima beans. Like her parents, she has a great sense of humor. We were very busy, so I didn't take many photos of her on the holiday, but I did capture this bit of concentration.

Melody and I got to have a little one-on-one reading and cuddle time, too. She knows and trusts Grandma and Grandpa now. Before she left, she even initiated a hug and kiss.

 I fall in love with my granddaughter more and more each time I spend time with her.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For some, the best way to get a nice juicy crispy turkey is to use a deep fryer. You need to cook in a sunshiny part of the world for that. Our Thanksgiving Day was overcast and rainy.

We get our "krispie" a whole other way!

Many thanks to my New Zealand friend, Kathryn ... who more or less dared me!  😂 😂 😂


Here's how my daughter Jeanne and I learned:

I Heart ...

I've been feeling a little frantic today as I prepare for the holiday weekend. Dale and I are hosting our family and a few in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner. All three daughters will be here with the two spouses and our grandchild. We'll have a house full.

So daughter Jeanne stopped by after work for the last three days to help with the preparations. Today was the day for kitchen prep. She got a little creative with the Rice Krispie Treats.

I 💜 Rice Krispie Treats.

I can't wait to show you what we did with this!

Musical Birthday Card

My sister Eleanore celebrated her birthday last weekend. I made her a gift and a card -- and even managed to mail them to her on time.

Eleanore and I share a tradition of playing guitar and singing together. Like me, she is also a seamstress. So I decided to make her a card using both a musical scale and some buttons.

She likes the color yellow, so I lined the card with some yellow polka dotted paper and wrote the birthday greeting there.

On the back, I used a couple stamps setting boundaries around my signature.

---

Inspired by folksy.com

Getting on the Same Page

Dale was gone on a business trip for a week. When he returned this weekend, one of the activities we chose was to have a session of Puzzles and Podcasts. It's an enjoyable way to ease into getting back in sync after we were on such different wavelengths for an extended period of time.

We chose this puzzle of vegetables. Not exactly a one-day event. There a quite a lot of greens that are still be sorted out. Patience and discernment get us to the end.

A lot like in marriage. Patience and discernment.

Practice Practice Practice

Every day is a good day to meditate. I've been consistent 500 days in a row!

I found the right teacher, at the right time, for the right student. Thank you, Andy Puddicombe, and Headspace.

Squirrel!

Dale and I dropped by his mom's house for a visit. My mother-in-law is the best gardener I know. Her yard is lovely with green lawns, flowers, statuary, birdbaths, and feeders. She said that yesterday a mother deer was resting in a quiet spot in the lawn. The deer's fawn was spotted walking down the street.

My mother-in-law told us stories about how squirrels bury nuts and seeds in her yard in the Fall, and how she pulls up young trees every Spring from the seeds that sprout.

Right about then a couple squirrels started chasing each other under the feeder. Soon afterward, this hungry rascal started walking toward her porch with this big apple in his mouth. He stopped to nibble a while, then picked the apple up with his teeth and scampered across the lawn. Through the window, I was able to snap a couple photos with my phone's camera before he got away.

Such a delightful way to spend an hour.

Throwback Thursday - 2002 (Part 1)

If it's Thursday, it must be time to look back at old projects. I began the first half of 2002 by putting down my tapestry needle and picking up a crochet hook.


Crochet Hat

I made myself a nice warm black winter hat with a rolled brim. It's quite warm because it's completely stitched in single crochet.

I found the pattern in Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework, page 371.

Bethlehem

I love the jewel colors in this piece by K. Elaine Kramer Designs as well as the quotation:

Years ago a baby cried,
His voice can still be heard.

This piece has a small stitch count, 93 x 64, but is stitching intensive because the entire sky is solid stitches. Much of the sky used a blended needle: two shades of blue floss in the needle at the same time. That gives the horizon the illusion of it being dusk. There's also quite a bit of backstitching. This piece looks wonky in the photo and will need to be blocked to straighten it out.

The Damask aida I used has a lovely hand. It's very soft and has a pretty sheen. But it is a very loose 18 count fabric with a loose weave, so my needle would often slip and split the ground fabric, creating a hole where there wasn't supposed to be one.

The star is stitched with a silver metallic fiber. The light from the stable had a bit of blending filament in it so that it glimmers.

This is one of those stitcheries that is still languishing in my box of stitched-but-not-finished items. I hope it will finally be ready for display in 2019.


Happy Easter

Oh, gosh. Another stitched-but-not-finished piece! My plan for this is to make it into a banner with a prairie point edging. I have all the fabrics and a decorative hanger ready to go. Earlier this week I learned how to make the prairie points. So everything is ready for me to display this by Easter 2019.

This cute piece is designed by Sue Hillis. The border and words for this piece were stitched with a variegated fiber called Bravo! (A118). The sweet metal Easter egg charm seen between the bunnies came with the chart.


Moose Christmas Ornament

For our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband and I took a cruise to Alaska. While there, I found a series of Alaska-themed Christmas ornament design.. This is the first in the series, designed by Calico Cache.

Ski Moose Christmas Ornament

Here's the second ornament in the series by Calico Cache. The Santa hat and "candy cane" skis were a hit with my daughters. I used a calico fabric for the back of the stuffed ornament, and a ribbon for the hanger. The cording around the edge was made of a 4-ply green yarn.

Horned Puffin Christmas Ornament

Here's the third ornament from our Alaska trip in the series by Calico Cache. This bird has attitude!

I finished the ornament simply using cardboard, a fabric back, and silver trim around the edge.

Next #throwbackthursday I'll show more ornaments from the Alaska trip that I stitched, beginning in June 2002.

Touched With Fire

I've had a series of synchronicities today that have all centered around my bipolar syndrome. It's peculiar to see my own journal writing, and an article about how people respond to the thought of medication, and watching a friend who is denying his illness spin out of rational thought, and watching a movie based on the books that most helped me understand the illness.

All these things crammed into one day have put me in an odd state of mind tonight. Reflective. Contemplative. Introspective. I found myself doodling this:

Through it all ... the years ... the counseling ... the journal writing ... the meditations ... the reading ... the gathering of tools and strategies to help me on emotionally rough days ... the acceptance ... the acknowledgements ... the building on small successes ...

In the midst of all the turmoil, there is this through-line:

Love

Having a stable, charmed life is worth the work of being relentless in the pursuit of good mental health.

Love is worth it.

Job Well Done

It's quite comforting to reach the end of a day knowing I have a job well done, a day well lived. That's today for me.

Goodnight!

The Old Gray Rooster

He ain't what he used to be many long years ago.

At the vintage mall.

Aren't You a Perdy Bird!

This nutty basket-o-balls was spotted at the vintage mall.

Such an expressive face!

Moon Over Blackbird

I made a thing!

I stitched up this little pumpkin and its friends. It's a portion of a Lizzie*Kate's Moon Over Blackbird and measures about 2.5 inches by 4.5 inches when stitched on Fiddler's Cloth.

I finished it as an ornament ... but without a hanger. It's padded on the font

and on the back. I used a piece of sparkly Fall leaf fabric to cover the back of the ornament. All the veins and dots on the leaf are metallic.

The front and back are sewn together by hand along the edge. Then I added a bright orange picot-edge ribbon around the sides.

I've propped my little guy up next to it's big brother so the stitched pumpkins can live together in our living room pumpkin patch.

This was a sweet two-day project that reminded me just how much I love cross-stitch.