2018 Gingerbread Scene

Jeanne came by for a Mom/Jeanne joint birthday project. We both enjoy all the details that go into making a gingerbread house and its surroundings. We spent most of one day together reveling in the creation.

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We started with a basic gingerbread house kit. It comes with all the gingerbread pieces, a few packets of candies, a bag of icing, a plastic tray to build the house on, and cardboard cutouts of the Peanuts characters.

Jeanne and I built a corrugated cardboard box to fit inside the house giving the gingerbread some extra structural integrity. We actually used hot glue to attach many of the gingerbread pieces, then used the icing as decoration, rather than as the glue that holds the house together. We used a double thick piece of foam core as the base of the scene.

Once the basic house was built and decorated, we placed it on the foam core and planned out our scene. We have some trees and snowmen that we utilize every year, so they needed a place to go. We decided to add a porch to the front of the house, and a fire pit out in the yard. Then we let our imaginations run wild.

The front of the house is festooned with lights along the gable and a sugar jelly wreath with a bow made from white Twizzlers. The candy cane stripe around the door and the red window panes are also made of Twizzlers. There are green sugar jelly bushes all around the house. The fence surrounding the porch is made of candy canes with larger candy ball finials. I like how it looks like Woodstock just finished shoveling the walkway to the door and is on his way back inside.

The windows are lit with colorful small candy balls. The yellow bells are also sugar jelly, with yellow candy ball clappers and a real satin ribbon bow. The roof of the house has a red sugar jelly star at the front gable. The roof tiles are made of Wheat Chex cereal. There are more sugar balls and oblong sugar candies along the ridgepole. The bricks on the chimney are made from tiny strips of Twizzlers. All parts of the roof are held together with icing.

The back of the house is simpler because it will be against a wall when the gingerbread house is on display. But we did outline the windows and door with green Twizzler strips while the panes are delineated with red Twizzler strips. The door is covered with pink flat candy rounds with a larger purple candy ball for a handle. The gable is outline with more sugar ball lights. The final touch is another sugar jelly wreath, this time with a red bow made of Twizzlers.

A path of icing leads to the fire pit on the right side of the house. A forest of trees stand behind the singers, complete with gold button stars on top. The base of each tree is supported with peppermint rounds.

Most of the Peanuts clan is enjoying the fire and singing carols ... well, all singing except Snoopy. He has other Christmas treats on his mind.

The local snowfolk have stopped by to find out what to make of the singing. One seems to want to join in, ringing the bell on his hat to the beat of the music. The other? Not quite sure what to make of all the racket, and a little fearful that, if he gets too close, he'll melt in the warmth of the fire.

I'm particularly proud of the texture in the snow. It has a base of icing. Then we added small white sugar balls and white flat candy rounds to make it look like some graupel fell after the last snowfall. The fire pit is made of broken segments of the red sugar jelly wreaths, outlined in the large red and green sugar balls. Jeanne created the fire from red, yellow, and orange sugar jelly candies.

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Snoopy is reveling in his cookie as he listens to his friends sing in the warmth of the firelight. The pup knows how to party!

I thoroughly enjoyed my day with my birthday buddy. It was a great way for just the two of us to have special time for our joint birthday.

Throwback Thursday - 2003 (Part 1)

If it's Thursday, it time to look back on projects from long ago. This is what I made in January and February of 2003.


Arctic Rose

This is the last in the series of ornament designs I picked up while in Alaska. This is stitched on a scrap of Fiddler's Cloth and finished as a "pillow" ornament, using a picot edge satin ribbon for the hanger. Having these ornaments to hang on our Christmas tree each year is a great way to remember the 10th wedding anniversary Dale and I celebrated in Alaska.

Giraffe

Here's a giraffe to add to my stitched collection. I love his sweet expression and the way his little round body sits on his short little legs. This is part of by X-Calibre Designs "Little Ones" collection, which is geared toward beginner stitchers. The inexpensive kits came with with fabric, needle, threads and a large print chart.

I framed this sweet guy in a 5" embroidery hoop that I'd painted gold. I added the black bow at the top because most of my giraffe stitcheries are either stitched on black fabric, or have a black mat. I wanted to carry over a touch of black in the finishing work on this piece, too, to fit into the collection.

Cosmo-Kitty

Cosmo-Kitty was designed by my oldest daughter, Jeanne. At the time, she liked to design cross-stitch more than she liked to stitch. She called me her model stitcher. This was the third of her designs I stitched.

Thank You Note

My brother Mark surprised me by sending me a nice cross-stitch book called The Art of William Morris in Cross Stitch by Barbara Hammet. It arrived on a day when I needed a pick-me-up, and I so appreciated his thoughfulness.

The designs in the book are simplified and stylized from the original embroideries. The book has very nice photos of Morris' original works, and then color charts of Hammet's interpretations. Among the many birds, florals and fruits is a lovely capital letter alphabet called the Kelmscott Alphabet. I stitched the letter "C" for my brother (the initial of his last name).

The entire design is stitched using DMC #8 perle coton, in navy blue #823. 

Welcome to the World Magnet

I stitched this kit for our new neighbors who had a baby boy. I added this magnet to a gift basket I put together for their baby.

I had great fun shopping for the little guy. The basket included a hooded towel with matching washcloth, four receiving blankets, three pair of socks, some shampoo and bathing goodies, and a rubber duck that lets you know if the bath water is too hot or not. What fun! 

Beaded Ornaments - part 2

The second batch of beaded ornaments are the icicles.  They are a bit more than 2 inches in length.

The tricky part of these for me was the wire work. I've not tried bending and swirling wire much. I had a hard time keeping the beads on the straight part of the ornament to stay there while I bent the wire. So for my sanity, I added a bead of hot glue at the right-angle bend. Works like a charm and doesn't look too cheesy.

My inexperience with wire work also means my swirls are rather uneven. Perhaps I should have watched some YouTube videos for some tips before attempting the swirl.

But they got better as I learned. This one makes me proud.

I'm very happy with my choice to keep the two parts of the ornament separate. They'll work beautifully on my tree.

Now to get the tree out of storage and decorate it!

Beaded Ornaments - part 1

This week I took a few hours to make 16 beaded ornaments. This first batch looks like snowflakes or stars (because snowflakes don't have eight legs).

The ornaments were assembled from this kit. It contains all the beads, wire, hubs, and stones needed for eight tiered ornaments.

Because I wanted small ornaments, I kept the two tiers separate. So I have eight snowflake/stars and eight icicles. These are only about two inches in diameter.

The ornaments are made with plastic beads and stones. They sure do sparkle in the light! I really like the flecks of gold in the center stone.

These small ornaments will work well at the top of the tree on the short branches.

Lights That Dazzle

Remembering a beautiful night in Philadelphia, PA last year.

Another Sneak Peek

I spent most of today in my Studio. In the morning, tidying it up. I've had so many projects going that the chaos was getting a little out of control. But a couple hours put it back in order.

In the afternoon, I finished making my beaded ornaments ... eight snowflakes and eight icicles. During all the activity, I listened to audiobooks. I managed to listen to 2-1/2 books! It's just what my frazzled self needed today. Creative time under my full-spectrum lights is good for body, mind and spirit.

I didn't feel like editing photos of the gingerbread scene for today's blog post, though. So instead, I'll share a sneak peak of my icicle ornaments. The wire work is new to me. So like snowflakes, no two icicle swirls are the same.

If I'm up to it, I'll take some close-up photos of my latest creations and share them over the next few days.

Sneak Peek

Jeanne came over today to play in the candy and icing with me. As a birthday gift to each other, we planned this day of making a gingerbread scene. We got house put together and the front of it decorated before lunch.

We have such a good time bouncing ideas off each other and coming up with creative solutions. She stayed several more hours and we finished the entire scene. It's adorable. More photos to come!

Yo-Yo Christmas Trees

The yo-yo trees are done!

The green tree is seven inches tall.

The yo-yos were made from three coordinating fabrics. I used a small flower-shaped red sequins for the center with a pearl-head pin to hold everything in place.

Originally, I'd planned to put some red yo-yos on the green tree. When I tried it, they looked too out of proportion. That's when I decided to use the red sequins to act as shiny ornaments.

So what to do with all the red yo-yos? Well, make a red tree with green ornaments! After all, if the White House can decorate with red trees, I guess I can have one, too. Unfortunately, I didn't have another styrofoam cone. What I had was the butt end of some cones left over from last year's gnome project. So I squished it into a cone shape as much as a could. Turns out to look more like a Christmas haystack than a tree.

The haystack is about four and a quarter inches tall. I used three different mostly-red fabrics for these yo-yos. I added a larger flower-shaped green sequins for the ornaments. The larger green sequins helps to balance out all that red.

I'm not sure I'll leave those snowflakes on top. I'm still trying to come up with some kind of pearl star instead.

Hmmm. I wonder how a strand of small pearls draped as garland would look. I'll play around some more and see if I like it.

Throwback Thursday - 2002 (Part 3)

From October through December of 2002, I did quite a bit of knitting, crafting, and finishing work along with a bit of counted cross-stitch.


Square Doily

This beautifully crocheted square doily was part of my inheritance from my mother. It is large -- about 19" square -- and made from cotton crochet thread. Thread crochet is a technique I've tried, but have not been very successful with. I have trouble feeling the correct tension. So I can really appreciate the work it took to create such a gorgeous piece.

I'm not certain who stitched this doily, but I believe it was created by either my maternal grandmother, Bertha, or by my maternal great grandmother. My best guess is that my grandmother stitched it, because I know that while her health was failing, she turned to thread crochet as a means of keeping herself occupied. My mom had stored this doily in her linen closet for years. She rarely displayed it.

In October 2002, I found a way to display it.

I stitched the doily onto some red velvet. The velvet came from curtains that belonged to my parents. And even these curtains have an interesting history.

In the 1980s, my mom wanted to open a day care center in Moscow, Idaho. She and Dad searched quite a while for a suitable building. They finally decided to buy the Old Grange building on Main Street. At the time, it was a huge, stinky, crusty, dark, smelly bar! But in it, they saw the bones of a strong building. With the help of a team of talented architects and builders, they transformed the bar into a daycare center, gymnastics studio, apartment, workshop and series of offices.

The heavy red velvet curtains from the original Grange stage were in the building when they bought it. They hung floor-to-ceiling before a full-sized stage. Being the thrify people my parents were, Mom rescued the curtains and washed them. She used them for costumes for the kids — including a robe for one of the three kings in the Christmas pageant. I somehow inherited pieces of those curtains, and used them for years as curtains in my bedroom. Now they've gone through another transformation as the background for this doily.

I now have a three-generation piece hanging in my living room: 

• crocheted by a grandparent 
• curtains from a piece of my parents' history 
• framed by me

Here's a detail of one of the medallions:

Today, I hung this piece over our mantle as a Christmas decoration. I think of it as a giant snowflake.

I have another beautiful doily, round, and nearly as large. I purchased a frame for it at the same time as framing this piece. Maybe that's one of the pieces I'll do the finishing work on next year as part of my 19 in 2019 goals.


Pumpkin Line

Pumpkin Line is my own design!

Actually, it's an adaptation of a couple pumpkin and fall charts I saw online. I liked portions of two different charts, and wanted to try my hand at charting a design myself.

My design is pretty flat ... no shading to give it dimension. But it's whimsical and quirky. I display it each Halloween.

I framed it fairly simply in a gold frame. I used wide orange ribbon as a mat. Neat idea.

Old St. Nick

I enjoy these Daydreams kits by Dimensions. The charts are clear. The details are nice. The price is right. (Most are around $10.00 US). The kit comes complete with pattern, floss, needle, designer mat, glass and stand. The finished piece is 4" x 8" [10 x 20cm].

I stitched this kit up for my friends who run a non-profit group. Their organization held a fundraiser just before Christmas. Part of the excitement of the night included a raffle. This little Old St. Nick was one of the raffle prizes.

This one was so cute that I kept the pattern, and made a photocopy of the background so that I might stitch it again for myself. 16 years later ... hmmm. Maybe it won't get done.

Winter Scarves

In 2002 I decided to conquer the Knitting Monster. My grandma first taught me to knit when I was eight years old. I was working on a hanger cover, but just didn't get very far. I do still have the knitting needles Grandma gave me, though! (I like how the top one is bent. Makes me smile, thinking of my grandma).

I tried knitting again in 1987. That time I had a left-handed teacher, and I got further. I actually made a red pullover sweater. But then someone took a photo of me wearing that sweater. I looked like a tomato. I never wore the sweater again. I didn't knit again, either.

This time, I decided to start with a very simple project. I decided to make a straight knit (no purl, no other design) scarf. But instead of using the normal 4-ply yarn that I'd always used before, I decided to try some specialty yarns. Oh! what a difference! 

I ended up knitting seven winter scarves. One for each of my kids, one for my husband, one for a Secret Santa buddy from my quilt group, and two for myself.

TWO you ask? I couldn't help it! I made one for myself out of one kind of yarn. Then I made four out of chenille yarn. They are absolutely yummy! The colors are rich and jewel-like and the texture is lush. So I had to have one of them for myself, too.

The chenille scarves — black with colored dots, steel grey, purple, midnight blue, red — are made from Lion Brand Yarn, "Thick & Quick" Chenille yarn. Each scarf takes about 1-1/2 skeins. This yarn does not ravel, so the fringe could be cut without fraying.

The pink and yellow scarf is made from one skein of Red Heart Baby Clouds yarn. It's color #9322, Creamsickle. This is a pretty yarn with a kinky texture. It does not ravel, either, so the fringe could be cut without fraying.

The blue scarf (the one on the right in the lower photo) is made from Lion Brand Homespun yarn. This was a bit of a challenge to work with. It also has a kinky texture, but the kinks tend to move up and down a base strand in the yarn as you work with it. So I just needed to massage the yarn as I worked with it to keep the kinks even as I stitched. This yarn ravels a lot, so I could not just cut it into fringe. Instead, I used this yarn to make bouillon fringe which I sewed onto the ends of the scarf.

I'm extremely pleased with all my scarves. And my family liked theirs so much, they wanted to wear them before Christmas.

I'm just glad I'm finally conquering the Knitting Monster -- at least a little -- and no longer allow this form of needlework get the better of me! 

2002 Christmas Ornaments

In 2002 I created a batch of ornaments that I gave out to whomever stopped by my home during the holidays. For example, I l gave one to our mail carrier, the UPS delivery lady, the Fed Ex gal. I also gave an ornament to each of the nice helpers at the post office when I mailed my stack of Christmas cards.

That year, I also gave an ornament to each member of my Quilt Group along with their Christmas cards. I made one for each member of my family. And then I had a few extra for our favorite waitresses and any friends that happened to stop by our home.

I enjoyed finding a simple ornament to create that I could make en masse in an assembly line manner. That year I made about 35 of these little puffy tree ornaments using two different Christmas fabrics.

My next Throwback Thursday post will begin with projects I made in 2003.

One Step Closer

Well, three steps, actually.

The yo-yos are made. I bought some pearl-head pins. And I pulled out my pretty red flower-shaped sequins.

I might be able to finish my yo-yo tree tonight. Tomorrow, for sure.

Beaded Beauties

The elves are busy in the Studio these days.

When the yoyo tree is done, I'll get back to these beaded ornaments.

I have about seven projects going at once right now. Time to focus.

Happy Birthday to Our Eldest

Jeanne and I celebrated our joint birthday on Saturday with some of the extended family. I made this card to go along with the gifts Dale and I got for her.

I used a blank white card as the base. I cut four 1-1/4" squares from light blue parchment cardstock. I found four patterned papers that were fairly color coordinated, and cut 1" squares from each, gluing the patterned paper to the cardstock. I then wrapped these "presents" with ribbons.

I attached the presents to the card with foam adhesive squares to give a 3D effect.

At the top of the card, I used gold rub-on letters for the sentiment. Then added the dark blue strip as an accent. The heart gem sticker was a final touch.

For the inside of the card, I used more of the light blue parchment cardstock as the base. I embossed it with the hearts and adhered it in place. Then I wrote in the sentiment. As our first born, I often call Jeanne "#1" ... like in Star Trek.

I added another dark blue accent strip. Then I added several more of the blue heart gem stickers in three sizes for a pop of fun.

On the back of the card, I stamped the "handmade" and row of hearts. I added a pop of color to some of the hearts, then signed my name.

Jeanne was delighted.

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Inspired by Keenan Kreations

Having My Ups and Downs

The last three weeks have been atypical around here. First Dale was on a business trip for a week ... so I didn't sleep as well as usual. Then I worked through a busy week of prep so the extended family could join us to celebrate Thanksgiving. Last week I began recovering from that extended weekend of activity (the house still isn't quite put back together). Finally yesterday, Grandma and Grandpa got to babysit Melody for almost six hours -- AND Jeanne and I celebrated our joint birthday.

My emotional health is all shaken up again simply from the excitement of many good things. My physical health could use a break, too.

So today Dale spent flying around the universe of No Man's Sky. I needed a quiet and repetitive respite. So I started a new craft project. Using scraps of fabric I received when I was part of a quilt group, I cut a lot of circles, and started turning them into yo-yos.

I saw yo-yo wreath, ornament, and topiary tree designs in the Mary Maxim catalog. I thought I'd give the tree a try using the materials I have on hand.

I sat and cut and sewed while listening to the audiobook recording of Michelle Obama's wonderful memoir, Becoming. It's superbly written. She narrates it exceptionally well. I highly recommend it!

A few more restful days like this and I'll be re-energized and ready to welcome Christmas.

18 in 2018: November Update

I barely made any progress in November. I'm sort of pooping out. Working on these goals consistently is harder than anticipated. Plus, November had three weeks of activities that were out of my norm where simple daily living was a bit of a test.

Goal #3 - Blogging about my projects from 1994 - 2008

I finished reviewing projects from 2001 and looked at my projects from January through June of 2002.


Goal #15 - Basic Pattern Drafting

I made the fixes on my first skirt pattern and drafted a second skirt pattern, this time an A-line. I picked out the fabric to make a mock up, but didn't get any further than that.


Goal #16 - Color Theory

I started my color theory course and did the first two lessons. I've decided this might not be the best course for me. It feels dated in its presentation. Plus, it's a course on color theory presented in black and white text with no color images. I can't always figure out exactly what the instructor wants as I do the exercises.

I found that, for this course, I most enjoy working with acrylic paint. I did some nice work while learning more about tint, tone, and shade. A also quite enjoyed working with needle and thread (no surprise there!)

This month I'll decide if I want to finish this "Notebook Class," or move on to one of several online color theory course options. I also have a nice book (pictured above) called Color Studies that I'll look through in December.

So it looks like I finished 15 of my 18 goals, and made progress on the other three. I can continue to work on these goals in December, and then easily roll the activities over into 2019.


I've already started my 19 in 2019 goal list. Most of the goals are designed to take less time to complete, and the goals will be simpler.

In reviewing my work this year, I learned that I can complete a project on an average of every 10 days. I also noted that I do enjoy the feeling of completing projects I started years ago, but that I get more energy from jumping into new projects.