Nibbles - Done!

Well, lookee here. 

Once I figured out exactly how I wanted to get Nibbles ready for display, made this project a priority, and gave myself a chunk of time, the Nibbles ornament came together fairly quickly.

Life is like that, isn't it? It sure is for me.!

Since this isn't an heirloom piece, I felt fine about using hot glue to put it together, rather than lacing the stitching to acid-free boards and sewing the front to the back.

They're not perfect ovals, but they don't need to be. Done is better than good.

I glued on the ribbon hanger before gluing the front to the back.

I used this soft green picot-edge ribbon to cover the side seam. It's a great match to the carrot top. It's the same ribbon I used on Flowers for You last year, so the two will bring a little continuity in my Easter decor this year. I enjoy those kinds of little details.

Here's a detail shot of how the loop hanger and ribbon-covered side seam meet.

The back. I managed to get the plaid fairly straight. The ribbon matches this fabric well, too.

Finally, hanging in place. It's the first of the Easter decorations for 2024.

I plan to do the rest of the decorating later this week.

A New Favorite

 I adore geocaching.

On Sunday my eldest and I got together to share some lunch, shop for Easter gifts, and find a few geocaches. We're excellent company for each other.

We found four caches in their Springfield neighborhood. This final one, GeoGus' Luxury Travel Bug Hotel, was my favorite. It might now be my all-time favorite cache ever visited.

The cache itself wasn't at all hard to find. It shares a structure with a Little Free Library.  

This image is from the cache website

The right half of the structure holds books you can take to read or exchange for books you bring to it. The left half of the structure is the cache. It's locked, but there's a clue on the geocaching website that helps you know the secret to getting inside.

I have never seen a travel bug motel like this. It's decorated as an actual motel ... a dollhouse, so to speak. 

On the front door is the check-in desk, giving instructions for the game as well as the log book.

Inside is the two-level hotel decked out with furniture, fixtures, lockers and even pets. Each locker and each cup hook is a place to hang a travel bug. Travel bug trackables are physical geocache game pieces that move from geocache to geocache. 

Types of trackables include: geocoins, tags, t-shirts, and more. Daughter Jodie has both a travel bug sweatshirt, and a travel bug sticker on her car! Travel bugs like to travel the world, where folks like me write in their log to tell of the bug's adventures. I picked up a travel bug that started in Australia!

Here's the top floor. I left some swag in the box in exchange for the travel bug. There's a toilet in the cupboard (for privacy, of course).

On the main floor is the pool and locker room. You can see that there are plenty of travel bugs to choose from right now.

The cache owner put a lot of work and pride and ingenuity and imagination into this cache. I'm sure it takes a good bit of time and attention into keep it up. 

My photos don't do this place justice. I highly recommend looking through the cache's photo gallery to see the great details.

The Covered Bridges of Sweet Home

Early in January while Dale and I were feeling stir-crazy from all the rain, we decided to take a nice long backroads Tuesday Travels ride out to Sweet Home. We had no particular agenda. We wanted time with each other out of the house since the Christmas season was over and our decorations were finally stored away for another year.

What we stumbled upon during our journey were four more of Oregon's covered wood bridges!

Earnest Bridge

This is also known as the Adams Bridge. It spans the Mohawk River. It's not in Sweet Home proper, but just off Marcola Road on the way to Sweet Home. Fun fact: this bridge appeared in the 60s movie Shenandoah starring James Stewart.

The photos are dark because of all the rain, but I managed to step outside the car just enough to snap a couple images. 

Weddle Bridge

This bridge is in a beautiful setting within the nearly 17 acre Sankey Park. 

The bridge was built in 1937 and carried traffic over Thomas Creek for 43 years until being by-passed in 1980. 

The structure was moved to Ames Creek and restored around 1989. 

All the creeks and rivers were running fast and high the day we visited.

Dahlenburg Bridge

We saw this tiny footbridge on a hill not far from Weddle Bridge. It's also in Sankey Park and crosses Ames Creek. Fun fact: it was built by students in 1989 as a shop project by local high school students. 

Whittemore Bridge

This small walking bridge is located in Clover Park just off Hwy 20. 

Like the Dahlenburg, this bridge was also built by the local high school shop class. Fun fact: it started life on the back of a mobile trailer and was hauled in parades to promote covered bridge preservation! 

It's also in a very pretty setting in the one acre memorial park, spanning Stone Brook Creek.

When we were there, the bridge was still lit with Christmas lights

as was the rest of the small memorial park.

Dale and I will be sure to take more country rides to Sweet Home in dryer weather so that we can enjoy the town and these bridges more thoroughly.

Spring Break

Look who visited us last week! 

It was so good to have time with Melody and Annalee and feel their hugs and watch them shine. (That's our eldest peeking through, holding Melody steady).

Jodie even got special t-shirts for when all the cousins met for the first time.

(Yes, the littlest cousin's face has been altered at the request of her parents. My doll's face is cute, but our littlest grandkid is far cuter!)

Lucky Pillow

Time to post my latest holiday cross-stitch finish for St. Patty's Day. The pattern is called St. Patrick's Day Mini Cat Freebie from Lynn B of Happiness Is Cross Stitching Designs. I love her little cats and have quite a few of them in my stash. I used one of them for my kids' Valentine earlier this year.

I decided to use a blended needle of gold and green to stitch the word Lucky. It's just a little something different to keep me engaged.

I turned this design into a pillow cover. The darker green inside border was from a fat quarter in my fabric stash. I found the bright green clover fabric recently at a thrift store. How perfect! The back of the pillow cover is also made from the clover fabric.

I've given myself a new seasonal project. It started with Thankful Owls last Fall. I finished it as a pillow cover. I just stuffed it with some fiberfill for the month, then removed the filling when it was time to store the pillow cover.

But now that I have the idea to make pillow covers for every holiday or season, I decided it was time to make a pillow form that I can transfer from cover to cover as I decorate for the following holiday.

I used an old bed sheet to make a 12-inch square pillow. I sewed the first three sides of the pillowcase, flipped it inside-in, stuffed it with lots of fiberfill, then pinned the last edge shut.

Since this pillow form won't be seen, I didn't bother making the last seam invisible. I top-stitched it closed.

When I did the finishing work on the pillow cover, I added a zipper for ease of inserting the pillow form. Check this out. I had a perfectly matched nine inch nylon zipper in my stash. That's a K-Mart price sticker. K-Mart has been out of business since 2002. 

Thirty-three cents! This must be from the 1970s or so. This size and style of zipper costs $1.50 now.

Say hello to the newest addition to my holiday pillows. You're pretty sweet, Lucky Cat!

You're just the right size.

A Fresh New World

 60°

Sun's out

Azure skies

Clouds puffy and soaring

As is the plane

In west Eugene

Spring's coming in for a landing

Minimalist #6

 

This white yarn is reflecting the colors of the ceramic bowl it's resting in. Cool.

Painted Rocks

When our granddaughters visited from Idaho last weekend, we made the most of a rainy day by painting some rocks. I've been wanting to try a technique using fingernail polish.

I filled a shallow dish with water, then dripped some fingernail polish on top. We learned that the thinner the polish, the better this technique works. The fingernail polish mostly rests on the surface of the water. Then you swirl the paint around to help get a marbled effect, and gently dip the rock face into the polish/water.

I should have tried this out before adding little ones to the mix, but we were winging it. There was a ... mishap. But their mom helped with the cleanup.

I forgot to take photos of their rocks. But I finished mine up this morning:

I received a big bag of mostly-used fingernail polish from our local Buy Nothing group which I've had for over a year. Using those supplies means that this is another step in my 24 Goals in 2024. Nice.

I had such a good time giving out painted rocks with the Halloween treats last year that I plan to make more rocks through the year and save them up for the trick-or-treaters.

Nearly Done

The stitching on Nibbles is completely finished. He's darn cute! 

I started adding a border to make the design bigger so that it would be a better size for my pillow. I completed about a fifth of the border, but it just wasn't working. I ripped it out this morning.

I'm reassessing my strategy for getting this little guy ready for display. My current idea is to make it into an ornament for the lighted tabletop tree in our entryway. I found this remnant of Spring plaid in my stash that can serve as the back of the ornament.

I'm tired and my brain hurts. This decision has become much harder than it needs to be.

Frosted Heartflake

They follow me around.

I spilled some cereal on the counter while filling up my bowl.

Minimalist #5

Progress

Nibbles is coming together very quickly. I stitched the bunny and carrot last night while watching Super Tuesday election results. I stitched the leaf after lunch today. All that's left is backstitching the details.

This is quite a bit smaller in real life than in my mind's eye, so I'm considering adding a border to increase the overall size of the design before I turn it into a pillow.

I looked at the fabric section in a thrift store this morning to see if I could snag some coordinating Easter fabric. No luck. So I'll have to take a finer tooth comb to my stash and see if I can hobble together some small pieces of fabric. I recall a yellow flannel with a small print that might work.

Time to pet my stash! 

I enjoy that activity because I "rediscover" supplies that stir up my creative imagination. I never run out of ideas.

What's Next?

A small Easter cross-stitch project for me.

This morning I gathered the materials for Nibbles by Ronda Jean and did a floss toss. This cutie has been in my stash since 2002, so it qualifies for being part of my 24 Goals in 2024: making crafts using only materials I already have on hand.

The colors are great together. So Spring-like! It's another small piece, so I should be able to finish it. The stitching is only 34 x 27 stitches, making it approximately 3-1/2 inches square. I'll likely be turning it into a pillow.

I Don't Get Out Much

Around Eugene, Oregon, the average amount of miles folks travel in their cars each year is around 13,000.

My car is a 2019 model.

The odometer recently hit the 10,000 mile mark.

:: sigh ::

This is why one of my 24 Goals in 2024 is to simply drive somewhere during daylight hours three times a week. Sometimes I have an actual destination. Sometimes I drive in the countryside for 10 minutes. I was driving at sunset last week; that wasn't such a good idea. I've got old eyes, but they're not quite bad enough for cataract surgery.

I have been getting out - mostly to go snuggle my new granddaughter. 

The pandemic nearly turned me agoraphobic. So I'm stretching myself. I've even bought two tanks of gas for far this year. Go me! 

:: putt putt putt ::

Minimalist #4

Trying it in sepia

 

Puzzle Time

Here's a puzzle full of muted colors that I bought at a Goodwill thrift shop. It normally sells (new) for $13 - $20. It's an excellent quality puzzle in like-new condition for only $3.99 (minus the senior discount). A steal! The bag holding the pieces had never been opened.

It's called Birds Puzzle. It was fun to see all the different varieties of birds. Some were well camouflaged.

It came with a half-size poster which was super helpful because the entire picture isn't shown on the box top.

Because the image is in portrait orientation rather than landscape (taller than wide), Dale and I put the jigsaw together sideways on our puzzling table. We ended up working across from each other much of the time rather than in our usual side-by-side stance.

Here's what it looks like all put together in the correct orientation.

Unfortunately, even though the pieces bag was intact, the puzzle was still missing one piece. We looked everywhere on the floor and in the couch cushions, but couldn't find it. So I made a cardboard piece in the right shape as a placeholder for that last piece.

I found this interesting video on YouTube that describes the many gymnastics our brains go through while putting a puzzle together. That's a lot of positive functions we're keeping sharp!

Birthday Greetings

I made a  birthday card recently for a friend I've had since elementary school. I love that we're in touch again after all these years.

I started with pre-made card blanks and matching envelopes. The base of the front of the card is a heavy weight very reflective gold metallic card stock. And I pulled three coordinating washi tapes, all with gold elements. 

All these materials were found in my stash, so I'm continuing to work on my 24 Goals in 2024 by creating without having to purchase new materials.

I used a die cut, a rubber stamp with blue ink, and a blue gem heart sticker for the sentiment. I attempted to match the blue of the cut-out with the blue in the heart washi tape. 

Since I adhered the sentiment with foam dots which raised the cut-out, you can see how reflective that gold cardstock is.

The inside sentiment was done in a word processing program and printed with blue ink. I used more of the washi tape as a border.

I signed the back as usual, then decorated the envelope flap with more of the heart washi tape.

I so enjoy making special cards for special people.